Unforeseen Consequences
by Dolphingirl32173
Summary: After having his council meeting canceled; Damon decides to pay Elena a visit. When he finds out what time of the month it is for her, his libido goes into overdrive. What happens when Elena's hormones are thrown into the mix? And what will the consequences be? Damon/Elena
1. Blood & Hormones

Unforeseen Consequences  
DG32173

Sarah: and here's quite the interesting little Season 1 fanfic. I hope everyone enjoys it.

_**CREDIT**_  
As always, I must give out credit to my amazing beta Cameron, aka _VDfan2107._ Without him, this story would still be stuck in my head. That, or it would be so full of grammatical and spelling errors that I'd be ashamed once I read over it again after posting it. Thank you so much for all your help, Cameron.

_**DISCLAIMER**_  
If I owned Vampire Diaries, I would have had Delena occur a _lot_ sooner than they got together in the show. As it is, this story as it is written is all that I own. If there is a concept that is mine as it is portrayed, I will claim it before the chapter. If I use a concept or scene suggested by a reviewer, I will make a section like the one above that gives credit to that reviewer for the idea. If neither of these things happen, it is safe to assume that neither I nor a reviewer own it.

_**WARNINGS**_  
ALTERNATE UNIVERSE! Alters from the show's storyline at some point between 1x08, _"162 Candles",_ and 1x11, _"Bloodlines"._ In other words, it takes place after Damon kills Lexi but before his and Elena's road trip to Georgia. Stefan and Elena are not _officially_ a couple just yet. Alternating between Damon's and Elena's viewpoints with the occasional peek at Stefan's viewpoint. Starts with Damon's viewpoint. Rated M for more than just my sanity. You have been warned.

_**SUMMARY**_  
After having his council meeting canceled; Damon decides to pay Elena a visit. When he finds out what time of the month it is for her, his libido goes into overdrive. What happens when Elena's hormones are thrown into the mix? And what will the consequences be? _**Damon/Elena**_

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Chapter 1  
Blood & Hormones

I smirk as I listen to Elena finish up in the bathroom she shares with her brother. The secret council meeting I'm _supposed_ to be attending right now had been canceled and I decided to use my sudden window of free time to pay a visit to Elena. Sure, she won't be _happy_ to see me. In fact, she's probably still pissed that I had killed Lexi and would try to throw me out of her room if it weren't for the fact that I'm a vampire and _so_ much stronger than her.

As I wait for her to come back to her room, I fiddle with her favorite stuffed animal, a cute stuffed bear she calls Teddy. Teddy is relaxing in my lap as I relax on Elena's bed. I like Teddy, strange as that sounds. Something about him is comforting to me. Almost as comforting as Elena's presence. Not that I'll ever _admit_ to any of that.

I smirk when I hear Elena flick off the light in her bathroom before opening the door to her room. "Damon!" she gasps, instinctively clutching the towel that is the only thing she's wearing. She scowls. "What are _you_ doing here?"

"My plans for the evening got cancelled and I decided to use my sudden window of free time to pay you a visit," I reply.

She huffs. "Whatever it is you came to say, just say it and get out," she snaps.

Suddenly, I'm distracted by an absolutely _mouthwatering_ aroma coming from her. Mingled in with her natural scent and the scent of a virgin is the delectable scent a woman gives off only at a certain time of the month. "Well, well, _someone's_ a little bloody tonight," I tease.

"I'm not injured," she protests with a frown.

"I didn't say you were. But I _can_ detect the sweet aroma of blood coming from you. And it's even sweeter than when it was at the Halloween party," I say with a chuckle.

It takes her a moment to realize _precisely_ what I'm talking about. When she connects the dots, she turns crimson with embarrassment. "Get out," she orders.

I give her my most seductive smile as well as my best bedroom eyes. I sit up and shrug out of my jacket. "Is it a hot in here or is it just me?" I ask, tossing my jacket over to the chair at her desk before unbuttoning the top few buttons of my shirt. Her eyes fixate on the expanse of my chest that that act reveals. The delicious aroma coming off her becomes even more enticing as arousal mixes in with the other scents. "Definitely hot in here," I answer myself, unbuttoning my shirt the rest of the way and tossing it to mingle with my jacket.

Elena's mouth works soundlessly as her eyes eat me up. Her hormones are at their most extreme at this time of month. Even on a normal day, I know damn well she's attracted to me. Add in her raging hormones and the fact that I'm now shirtless for the first time in her presence and she's going to be putty in my hands. "Y-you should l-leave," she manages to get out; though I can tell that is the _last_ thing she wants right now.

"Are you _sure_ that's what you want?" I ask, lacing my voice with just the right amount of honey. "Because if that's _really_ what you want, I guess I _could_ leave." I set Teddy to the side and slowly climb out of her bed. Her eyes immediately fix on the bulge in my jeans that had appeared as soon as her scent hit my nose. She swallows hard and takes an involuntary step towards me. "It doesn't _look_ like you want me to leave," I croon. A second step follows the first, the scent of her arousal becoming stronger. "It doesn't _smell_ like you want me to leave either," I add. "What do you _really_ want right now, Elena? I can tell we're all alone in your house at the moment. Only you and I will know what happens. Give in to what we both know you want."

With that, she finishes closing the distance between us so that she can fling her arms around my neck and pull my head down so she can crush her lips to mine. That's all the answer I need. I wrap my arms around her and pull her body flush against mine. I trace her lips with my tongue and she instantly parts them, allowing me to plunge my tongue into her mouth. After tasting and exploring every crevice of her mouth, I tease her tongue into a war for dominance, which I win after a good battle. Then I have to break the kiss so she can get much needed oxygen into her lungs. Her hands trail from around my neck down my chest and over my abs to fumble with my fly in an effort to rid me of my jeans. I easily bat her hands aside and take care of unfastening the fly myself. Elena immediately pushes my jeans off my hips and down my legs. I step out of them when they're around my ankles and her arousal soars even higher when she sees that I've gone commando today. Then I whip the towel off her and eagerly examine her body. There are actually quite a few subtle differences between Elena's body and Katherine's as well as one major one in the form of Elena's birthmark.

As soon as my visual inspection of her body is complete, I pull her into my arms, spin us around, and back her into her bed before tumbling her into it, landing on top of her in a carefully controlled sprawl where most of my weight is resting on my arms and legs. I grind my hips against hers in a promise of what's to come and am rewarded by her eyes rolling up into her head briefly in pleasure.

I place a quick kiss on her lips before kissing my way up her jawline and down her neck. I pause at the juncture where her left shoulder meets her neck to leave her with a _very_ obvious hickey before continuing to kiss my way down her body. The next stop I make is her breasts, pulling first her left breast into my mouth to suckle and tease while my left hand fondles her right breast. Once I have given her left breast the proper worshipping it deserves, I switch breasts to deal equal treatment to both before placing a kiss in the valley between those beautiful mounds of flesh and continuing to kiss my way down to that glorious virgin place between her legs.

Once I reach that sacred spot, I first trail my tongue over her slit to lap up the magnificent blood seeping from it. It is the most divine tasting blood I have ever had the pleasure to taste. She inhales sharply at the sensation. My dick is already aching to be inside of her but I know enough to know that I have to make this experience the best it possibly can be in order to have her running back for more in the future. I latch my mouth over her clit while gently sliding one finger into her core to begin the work of stretching her inner walls to more easily accommodate my rather large erection.

As I work her entrance with my hand, I treat her clit to all the skill I have accumulated over the decades. I soon have her gasping and mewling under my attention. By the time I'm working her core with three fingers; her walls are starting to flutter around them, signaling her oncoming orgasm. At the last second, I withdraw my fingers to lick them clean, reveling in the taste. She starts to groan in disappointment but it quickly turns to a cry of pleasure as I plunge my tongue into that special place. That is all that's needed to send her over the edge, pouring a mixture of menstrual blood and her sweet nectar into my mouth and down my throat. It takes nearly a full minute for the flow to ebb. I swirl my tongue around the entrance of her core, lapping up the excess. Then I withdraw my tongue to begin kissing my way back up her glorious body. I capture her lips as I carefully ease my dick into her at long last. And her virgin tightness is the most sacred heaven I have ever experienced. She gasps into the kiss as I pierce through that bit of flesh marking her as a virgin. Rather than trying to pull away as some virgins do, she wraps her legs around my hips and pulls me even deeper, all the way in until my pelvic bone brushes against her clit.

I rest there a moment, allowing her body to adjust to this new experience. Once the pressure around my dick eases some, I start up a pattern of slowly pulling out until just the tip of my dick is inside of her then rushing back in until my pelvic bone brushes her clit. I'm startled when she suddenly starts purring her pleasure. I've only rarely gotten _that_ compliment of my skill. To get that sign of sexual approval from Elena is the icing on the cake of this evening.

I soon have her inner walls fluttering around my dick and I feel my own release coming on strong. But I'm determined not to fly first. By this point, my mouth is back at the spot I'm determined to leave a prominent hickey, proof that tonight really happened. I resist the temptation to sink my fangs into her flesh to taste the blood in her veins. Now is _not_ the time for that. Perhaps on some future occasion, but not now. Besides, a bite mark would tell Stefan _precisely_ who stole Elena's virginity. A hickey will leave it up in the air. I want to keep Stefan guessing as to who she was with tonight for a while. Though I will definitely _hint_ at what went on tonight when I get back to the boarding house.

In the end, Elena and I take flight together as our releases occur simultaneously. The force of my release is enough to shoot stars across my vision as proverbial fireworks go off in my head. But I'm not going to stop with just _one_ go at it tonight. I'm going to keep it up until she passes out on me. But first we both need to rest for a moment to recover from the explosive first round.

Two hours later

I smirk as I hold Elena close to me. She has a good deal of stamina, having kept up with me for nearly two hours before passing out after our last round, which was just as explosive as the first. I have never had a partner who drew consistent explosions from me, not even Katherine. I think I just might give up on freeing Katherine in favor of Elena. I sigh. As much as I want to, I can't spend the night in her bed. I want her to realize that tonight really happened when she sees the hickey I left her with in the mirror. And besides, I want to subtly rub Stefan's nose in this. Subtly because he'd damn well try to lock me up again if I made it blaringly obvious what happened tonight.

I carefully extricate myself from Elena's grasp and tuck Teddy into her arms in my place when she whimpers. She clings tightly to the stuffed bear, burying her nose in his fur. I then slip into the bathroom she shares with her brother to clean myself up before returning to her room to put my clothes back on. I hesitate briefly before placing a feather-light kiss on Elena's lips before slipping out her window and taking off for the boarding house, a smirk on my lips.

When I make it onto the property, I start whistling cheerfully. By the time I make it inside, Stefan's in the entry hall. "What have you been up to, Damon?" he demands.

"Who says I've been up to anything?" I ask.

"You wouldn't be so cheerful if you haven't accomplished something," he retorts.

"I'll just say this: the cherries are ripe for the picking tonight," I tell him.

He frowns in confusion. He's so naïve that he doesn't realize I'm talking about virgins rather than fruit. And his words prove that: "Cherries are only in season during the summer."

"That's where you're _wrong,_ brother," I say cheerfully. _"Any_ season can be cherry season. You just have to know how to find one that's just ripe." I start up the stairs before pausing. "It felt _damn_ good popping tonight's cherry," I call back. "Oh, and if you see Elena, tell her I said 'hi'."

I chuckle as his confusion at what seemed like a complete topic change radiates off of him. I finish making my way to my room, a grin on my lips. This is going to be fun.

**Elena**

6:00 the next morning

I groan as my alarm clock goes off. I sleepily blink my eyes open and sit up, wincing as I do so. The cramps are going to be horrible, today, I can tell that much. I then look down at my body and curse myself for being so stupid as to pass out in my bed stark naked. Gonna have to change my bedding with all that blood on it. I sigh and carefully climb out of bed to begin stripping it. I then carry my bedding into the bathroom to stuff it into the laundry basket Jeremy and I use for linen. Then I go back into my room to pick out my clothes for today before returning to the bathroom. I lock both doors after I set my clothes on the counter.

I happen to glance at the mirror only for something to catch my attention. I turn fully towards the mirror and gasp in horror as I recognize the reddish spot at the juncture where my neck meets my left shoulder as a hickey. I grip the counter as my body starts trembling uncontrollably. I had thought it was just another one of those crazy dreams that my subconscious likes to give me. But this hickey is proof enough that last night really happened: I really gave my virginity to _Damon._ This isn't good. This _really_ isn't good.

Before I can start hyperventilating, I reassert firm control over my body. I don't have time to start worrying about the consequences of last night. I have to get ready for school. And I'm going to have to wear a different shirt, one with a high collar. Hopefully no one will notice the hickey if I wear a shirt with a high collar.

I close my eyes and groan. I have no idea what the hell I was thinking, allowing that to happen in the first place. With a sigh of resignation, I begin getting ready.

**Stefan**

7:45, the high school campus, by the tree he waits for Elena

I feel a smile light up my face when I see Elena heading towards me. But as soon as she's standing next to me, I notice there's a subtle difference in her scent today. I can detect her familiar perfume, her body wash and shampoo, but something about her personal scent under those scents has changed. "Elena, are you okay?" I ask.

"I'm fine," she says. "Why?"

"Just wondering," I reply as I realize what is different about her scent. She's lost the scent of being a virgin at some point since I last saw her yesterday. It's almost like a slap in the face because I had thought we were getting close. But who would she have done _that_ with? And _why?_ She's been showing all the signs of being interested in me. But now she's gone and slept with someone else. Because she had a shower this morning, she had washed off any lingering scent bearing the identity of who she had been with. I turn towards the school. "Well, we should get to class."

"Okay," she says. When I don't wrap my arm around her shoulders like I have every morning before school for a few weeks now, she frowns in confusion but doesn't press the subject.

**Damon**

On the high school's roof

I smirk. Elena doesn't know that vampires can _smell_ the scent change when someone loses their virginity. And Stefan's too damn polite to raise the topic to her. But Stefan's going to be treating her rather differently now that he's recognized what changed in her scent. Perfect. Thing's are going according to plan. Elena _will_ be mine and of her own will. She just doesn't know it yet. I chuckle as they both make their way into the school. Thing's are finally going in my favor. And I plan on keeping them heading in this direction. Once Stefan and Elena walk through the doors to the school, I shape-shift into a raven and take flight. I'm going to win the girl this time around. To hell with Katherine. She was a cheat and I now see that she had planned on stringing Stefan and me along for eternity. Elena's so much better and she's going to be exclusively _mine._


	2. Changes

Unforeseen Consequences  
DG32173

Sarah: here's chapter two. Sorry about how short the first chapter was. I'm hoping this one will be a good bit longer. I hope you enjoy. This chapter starts with Elena's viewpoint. Also, as I don't have perfect recall and don't feel like re-watching the episodes during which this takes place, I'm going to use writer's prerogative to say that Jenna _has_ met Damon and _thinks_ he's a friend of Elena's by the time this chapter takes place. And Elena can't do very much in the way of dissuading Jenna of that notion without going into detail of _why_ Damon is bad news.

_**REVIEW REPLIES**_

_dyalli:_ yeah, chapter one was hot. Here's more.

_Damon'sBourbon1864:_ wow, you enjoyed the smut scene in spite of your tendency to steer clear of them? I'm so glad you loved the first chapter. Here's the second.

_PattyFleur87:_ you are going to make my cheeks permanently red with your praise! Thank you so much. Here's the next chapter.

_JMHUW:_ Stefan can't _stand_ the thought that someone else got to her first. He was all for being her one-and-only. Now he's unsure _what_ he's going to do in regards to Elena.

_kfulmer7:_ nope, Stefan will never lay a romantic _finger_ on our darling Elena. And you'll get your wish for more lovely scenes like last chapter's off and on throughout the fanfic.

Helen: thanks so much for the compliment! Here's the update.

_dellchecky:_ so glad you enjoyed it. Here's more.

_damon-elena-delena:_ so glad you enjoyed the first chapter. Here's the next chapter.

_YAZMIN V:_ "All is fair in love and war" is definitely a true saying. And Damon's gonna fight dirty to get the girl. Glad you enjoyed.

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Chapter 2  
Changes

I frown as I walk slowly to my locker. Stefan has been treating me so differently today. Is it possible that he somehow _knows_ that I slept with Damon last night? But I scrubbed extra hard this morning, trying so hard to get Damon's scent off me that I ended up a little raw from the force I applied with my sponge! He couldn't possibly smell Damon on me after all that, right? So what is it that's making him put up a barrier between us? Things had been going so well with him! Damn Damon for showing up last night! And damn my hormones for making me give in!

I sigh as I open my locker. Suddenly, Caroline's at my elbow. "Is it me or is Stefan putting distance between you two?" she asks.

"Feels like that," I reply softly, reaching for a book.

Caroline suddenly grabs my shoulder and pulls the left side of the collar of my shirt down. "Let me guess: that's not from Stefan, is it?" she asks wryly, pointing to the hickey she had revealed. I blush and avert my eyes. "Well, that's my answer. If you were so determined to be with Stefan, _why_ did you let someone _else_ give you a hickey?" she demands.

"I wasn't thinking straight. My hormones are all over the place and I wasn't thinking straight," I sigh.

"Oh!" she gasps, realizing what I mean. "Well, that _is_ slightly more acceptable. All girls go crazy during that time of the month. So long as you didn't _sleep_ with whoever gave you –" she starts only to trail off when my cheeks heat up so much they must be crimson. She groans. "Elena, you _really_ put your foot in it, didn't you?" she asks.

"Put her foot in it how?" Bonnie asks as she seems to just appear next to us.

"Elena slept with someone last night and it _wasn't_ Stefan," Caroline tells her softly. "And Stefan has been avoiding her all day. Though how he'd _know_ about it, I haven't a clue."

"Elena, I thought you had fallen hard for Stefan," Bonnie exclaims.

"Hormones are going crazy," I mutter.

Bonnie sighs. "That time of the month?" she asks. I nod. "Well, you were always at your craziest during that part of the month."

"And it was your first time, wasn't it?" Caroline asks. I suddenly find my shoelaces incredibly fascinating. "Are you going to at least tell us _who_ stole your virginity?"

"No," I say firmly. "Bad enough that it happened at all. Worse that it happened with _him._ I'm not giving you ammunition to hold over my head until the day I die. I'd probably kill myself from mortification."

"It can't be _that_ bad," Bonnie says, taking my hand. She drops it almost instantly. "On second thought, there are a _few_ names that would qualify as _that_ bad," she adds, staring at me like I had grown a second head. I immediately realize that she had a vision of who it was. I give a slight nod. She sighs. "None of those names are worth talking about," she says.

"Well, how are we going to get you with your love-match?" Caroline asks.

I sigh. "I don't know how Stefan could have found out," I tell them plaintively. "I don't think he has an idea as to _who,_ or he wouldn't be talking to me at all."

"Just don't let it happen again and I'm sure he'll get over it," Bonnie suggests.

"That's the problem. I think the guy I was with last night is planning on more than just a repeat. He's been after me since we met," I tell them. I shake my head as I get the last of the books I'll need for homework and stuff them in my backpack before shutting my locker. "And now I doubt he'll ever give up."

I shoulder my backpack and make my way outside with my girlfriends. They notice how I'm limping and exchange startled looks. "Is your limping leftover from last night?" Caroline asks softly. I nod. "He's that big?"

I sigh. "Not only is he quite large down there but he also had me going until I fell asleep on him," I grumble. "More than two and a half hours of extreme activity."

"On your first night?" Caroline demands in shock.

"Yep," I reply tersely. "Now, can we _please_ get off the subject of last night's visitor and change to _any_ other topic?"

"Actually, here is where we split ways," Caroline says. "My car's way over on the other side of the parking lot."

"And I have to find my car," Bonnie admits. "I'm going to staying with my Grams for the next several days."

"See you," I tell them.

"Later, Elena," Caroline says as she takes off at a jog for the far side of the parking lot.

As soon as she's out of hearing range, Bonnie grabs my wrist. "Are you _crazy?"_ she hisses. _"Damon?"_

"Like I said, _hormones,"_ I reply softly. "He decided to strip off his jacket and shirt and my hormones took over. Trust me, Bonnie; you might very well have done the same in my position. You have never seen a hot guy until you see Damon topless."

She wrinkles her nose. "Unfortunately, that's the very vision I _got_ when I touched your hand. And now I can't get it _out_ of my head!" she complains. "How could such an evil guy be so damn _sexy?"_

I shake my head. "I'm having that same problem," I admit. "It keeps popping up at the worst possible times. Just like _he_ does!"

"Are you by chance talking about _me?"_ an amused velvety voice asks from nearby. Bonnie and I jump before scowling at Damon where he's leaning against my SUV. He winks at me and I feel my cheeks heat up. "Well, hello, Elena, don't you look delicious today," he greets. He smirks at Bonnie. "Judgy."

"Vampire," Bonnie hisses at him. "Elena, as I said, I have to go. Grams is expecting me. Maybe we can figure out a magical solution to your pest problem."

"It would be most appreciated," I tell her wryly.

"Bye," Damon says, wiggling his fingers as Bonnie heads off to find her car. He turns his attention to me, his eyes right back to the same seductive bedroom eyes they were last night. "Miss me?" he asks.

"Not a chance," I grumble. "Are you a stalker now?"

"I just happened to be in the neighborhood, thought I'd drop by," he replies.

"You 'just happened' to be near the high school when the students are let out? Doubtful," I growl. "Mind getting _away_ from my car? It might get Damon cooties."

"But you just _love_ Damon cooties," he teases as he obediently steps away from my car.

"No, I don't," I tell him, walking over to the driver's side.

"Could've fooled me," he retorts.

"I'm a red-blooded human female who is going through severe hormonal issues right now," I tell him flatly. "That is _all_ there is to it."

"By the way, I noticed someone had stolen your virginity. I can _smell_ it. Mind sharing who that was?" Damon asks.

I feel a chill go down my spine. So that's how Stefan knew. "Shut up, Damon," I hiss. "What are you trying to prove?"

**Stefan**

Near the entrance of the school

I watch and listen as Damon eggs Elena on. Damon has no sense of propriety and thus didn't feel at all reluctant to just blurt out the question that has been running through my head all day. "Who was it, Elena?" Damon asks, crossing his arms with a cocky grin.

Elena's cheeks are flaming red and she looks ready to breathe fire. "Damon, shut _up._ I don't need this right now."

"Well, it disappeared at some point last night, I presume. Who did you invite into your bedroom?"

Elena shakes her head furiously. "Stop it, Damon. Whatever you're trying to do isn't going to work on me," she snaps.

"I'm just trying to find out who the lucky guy was," he chuckles.

"What's your goal in this? It's bad enough it happened!" she snaps, tears in her eyes. "Hormonal-driven sex is nothing."

"Oh, it's something when it's your first time. Care to tell me who it is?"

"I don't need to stand here and try to figure out what game you're playing," she snaps, shoving her car key into the driver door and unlocking it. Before she can open the door, however, Damon has her turned around so that her back is pressed to the door and his arms are on either side of her head, penning her in. I desperately want to intervene but I want to know who she was with and why Damon is so adamant in getting her to confess it even more so. "Let me go, Damon."

"_After_ you tell me who took your virginity. C'mon, there's no one anywhere near us."

"You just won't stop until I say it, will you?" she asks.

"Nope," he affirms.

"Fine, if you're so damn eager for an ego boost, then I'll tell you: I _hate_ that it was you!" she snaps angrily. I freeze so completely that even my breathing stops. I couldn't have heard right. But Elena says it again. "It was _you,_ Damon Salvatore, who stole my virginity. And I hate myself for allowing it to happen."

"Baby, you didn't just _allow_ it to happen. You _ran_ into my arms and you know it," Damon says, backing away with a grin. "Hormones or no hormones, you _wanted_ it."

I can see just by the shame on her face that she _had_ wanted to let my brother take her. I take off at that point, unable to handle any further wounds on my heart.

**Damon**

I sense my brother taking off from where he had been positioned near the school entrance. Suddenly, Elena's slap brings my attention firmly back to her. _Ow!_ Dammit, why the hell do her slaps hurt so damn _much?_ I'm on human blood for crying out loud! "Don't come near me again or you're going to get something pointy and wooden in the most painful place I can stick it. And I'm not referring to your heart, if you even _have_ one," she tells me coldly.

I wince at the not-so-subtle threat to jam a stake into my jewels. She turns around and climbs into the driver's seat of her SUV. I smirk at her as she makes a show of locking me out. She knows damn well that if I _really_ wanted to get to her, I could just rip the door from the frame without any effort. But I'll let her have her little temper-tantrum if it makes her feel better.

I raise a hand and wave at her as she pulls out of her parking spot, a smirk gracing my lips. I had been close enough to hear the entire conversation between Elena and her girlfriends from when they stepped out of the school, _including_ the bit just between Elena and Bonnie. I chuckle. Things between Elena and I are just starting to heat up. Now to fan the flames until she submits to what we both want again and _again._ She _will_ be mine.

I chuckle as I make my way to my car. Things are definitely going right for a change. I've already made sure Stefan won't touch her, what with him taking note of how ashamed she looked following my voicing that she had _wanted_ me last night. That very shame made it clear to anyone who heard what I said and saw her face that she really _had_ wanted me and that she'd rather die than admit it. That was step one of the plan: make Stefan back off. Next step is to build up the heat in Elena until she throws herself into my arms and begs me to take her again.

I reach my car and unlock the door before sliding into the driver's seat. I buckle up since I really don't want one of Liz's officers pulling me over for not wearing a seatbelt. Then I start the engine and pull out of the students' parking lot and turn the Camaro in the direction of Elena's house. I'm going to invite myself for dinner. Admittedly, I'll make Jenna do the inviting, but it will essentially be the same thing.

As I pull into the Gilbert driveway, I smirk to see that Elena hadn't come straight home. Perfect. Hopefully by the time she gets home, I'll have already scored my invite to dinner. And lucky for me, Jenna _is_ home. I turn off my Camaro and climb out, locking the car before shutting the door. I then make my way up the porch steps and ring the doorbell. Normally I'd bypass the door in favor of Elena's window but this is one time I don't really have a choice.

It only takes a few seconds before Jenna Sommers opens the door. "Oh! Damon, I wasn't expecting you," she says. "Elena had to run some errands after school. It will probably be a couple hours before she gets home."

"Well, then, I suppose _I_ could cook dinner in her place," I offer with a warm smile. "That _is_ one of the things she does around here, right? Make the meals?"

Jenna chuckles weakly. "Only because I would end up burning the house down if I weren't strictly supervised in the kitchen. I can manage PB&J sandwiches but that's about it," she admits, stepping back to allow me to step inside. "I'm sure not having to make dinner will make her very grateful. Come on in. I'm sure you know where the kitchen is by now."

"I do," I confirm, stepping in. "I'll see what ingredients you have and whip up something."

**Elena**

Three hours later

I scowl when I see an all-too-familiar dusty blue 1969 Chevy Camaro convertible sitting in my driveway as soon as I turn onto my street. I groan but know that he's not going to leave until _at least_ after dinner has been eaten. I sigh and park in my usual spot in my driveway before turning off my car. There's not much I can do to rid Jenna of the notion that Damon is a friend of mine without letting her know the truth about the supernatural. And I don't plan on telling her _that_ any time soon.

With another sigh, I climb out of my car and lock up before heading inside. As soon as I step through the door, though, I am slammed with the delicious scent of something scrumptious being made. I know damn well that it's not _Jenna's_ cooking that's giving off the mouthwatering aroma. And Jeremy doesn't cook unless he's forced to. So that leaves Damon to be the chef of tonight's dinner. That means he'll be staying for dinner because it would be _rude_ to kick the chef out without allowing them to take part in the meal they made. Wonderful.

"Elena, is that you?" Jenna calls from the direction of the kitchen.

"Yeah, just got back from those errands I had to run," I tell her. "I can tell we're having company for dinner."

"Damon offered to cook dinner since you'd be late coming in," Jenna says sheepishly. "I didn't think you'd mind the helping hand."

"It's fine," I call, gritting me teeth. I start climbing the stairs "I'm going to put my stuff in my room then I'll be back down."

It takes only a couple minutes to deposit my backpack and purse in my room before making my way to the kitchen. I gape in awe at the three dishes Damon has fixed for us. "Okay, it all smells delicious but _what_ is it?" I ask.

Damon chuckles. "That's panzanella," he says, motioning to what looks like a salad. He then points to a meat dish. "That's porchetta," he continues. "And the third dish for the meal is stuffed peppers. They're all Italian recipes I was taught by my mother before she died. Desert will be _cherry_ pie," he says, winking at me. I frown at him. "We were just waiting for you to get home before eating."

"I'll go get Jeremy," Jenna says, leaving the room.

"What are you doing here, Damon?" I hiss once she's out of earshot.

"Taking your place as chef for the evening," he teases.

"I thought I told you to leave me alone," I growl.

"You did. Doesn't mean I'll listen," he points out.

I groan. "What do you want from me?" I demand.

He smirks. "You'll find out soon enough," he tells me.

I open my mouth to demand answers _now,_ but that's when Jenna and Jeremy come back downstairs. Damon conscripts my help in transferring dinner to the dining room table. As dinner progresses, I have to admit that Damon is a damn good cook. Not to mention he _is_ pretty funny. As hard as I try to remain aloof to his wicked sense of humor, it is too much a match for my own for me to succeed. He quickly has me laughing just as hard as Jeremy and Jenna at his wit. Then it's time for desert and I know that the type of pie is going to bring all _kinds_ of innuendos from Damon's lips.

Jenna takes a bite of her slice of pie and moans her pleasure. "This pie is delicious, Damon," she compliments him.

"Thank you," he says appreciably. "I always _loved_ a good cherry," he adds, smirking at me.

I feel my face turn a thousand shades of red. Damn him! And unfortunately, Jenna takes note of the sudden color change in my face. "Elena, are you alright?" she asks. "Your face is flushed."

"Fine," I reply quickly. "Just fine."

I take a bite of my slice of pie to discover that it is just as good as the rest of the meal was. I give Damon a reluctant nod to show I appreciate it. His smirk relaxes into a smile briefly, just long enough for me to catch that it _had_ changed before it returns to a smirk. And after dinner comes a movie. Since Damon is the guest, Jenna gives him the right to choose. I expect him to choose an action movie with lots of fighting so I'm surprised when he chooses _Titanic._ Before I can sit in a chair, Damon claims me for his lap as he takes one end of the couch. I smack him and he pretends to wince while rubbing his shoulder with one hand. We're barely half an hour into the movie when the doorbell rings. Everyone groans. I sigh and tug out of Damon's embrace to go answer the door.

As soon as I open the door, though, I realize that this was a _really_ bad timing. "Stefan," I say softly.

"Hey," he greets.

"What are you doing here?" I ask.

"C'mon, Elena, you're leaving us at a good spot," Damon calls.

Stefan's eyes widen in shock. "Damon's here?" he asks dubiously.

"He came while I was running errands and cooked dinner for us. We were watching _Titanic_ when you rang the doorbell," I tell him sheepishly.

"You and Damon were watching _Titanic?"_ he asks doubtfully.

"And Jenna and Jeremy," I tell him. "Damon got to pick since he's the guest. Anyways, we're already a good ways into the movie or I would invite you to join us."

"No, that's fine," he assures me, backing away. "I'll talk to you tomorrow at school."

"You didn't say why you came here in the first place," I point out.

"It's nothing, really. I'll just … go," he says.

"Okay, see you tomorrow," I tell him before closing the door and returning to the living room. Damon wraps an arm around my waist and drags me back into his lap while Jenna hits play on the remote. I don't bother smacking him as it didn't do any good the first time.

**Stefan**

I take a chance and peek through the living room window just in time to see Damon pull Elena into his lap. I'm surprised that she doesn't even try to protest. Admittedly, Jenna and Jeremy _are_ in the room as well, as she had said, but she didn't even try to smack him. How did things end up like _this?_ How could I not have seen him winning her over until it was too late?

**Damon**

I smirk as I see Stefan's mournful face looking through the living room window from the corner of my eye. I decide this is too good an opportunity to pass up. I slightly tighten my grip around her waist, not enough to hurt her, but enough to pull her closer to me. Then I set my other hand in her lap. While my hand is actually nowhere _near_ her crotch, Stefan wouldn't see that from the angle he's viewing us from. He'd get the implication that my hand is right up at that delicious spot where her legs meet her hips. To make things all the sweeter for me and all the worse for Stefan, Elena relaxes into me.

**Stefan**

I feel my eyes widen when Damon places his hand right where Elena's legs meet her hips and she doesn't do a damn thing about it. Instead, she actually relaxes _into_ him! I shake my head in disbelief and take off. I had thought things were going so well between Elena and me! I thought she _hated_ him! How did things take such a horrendous turn so quickly and without me even realizing it?

**Elena**

After the movie and dinner cleanup

I sigh as I walk to the door with Damon. "Okay, I'll admit it: you're more fun than I gave you credit for," I tell him.

"I keep telling people that," he retorts.

"Don't get too excited. I still don't like you all that much. But you have convinced me that we _might_ be able to be friends," I say. "You're going to have to work hard to make me forgive you for all the bad you've done in my town. But I'll give you a chance to prove yourself. You're only getting _one_ chance. Screw up once and that's it."

He freezes so completely even his breathing stops, not that he needs to breathe but it is helpful for the whole human guise. I decide that my agreeing to give him a chance to become my friend had taken him by complete surprise. It takes a couple of minutes for him to recover from the shock. When he does, he winks at me. "You won't regret it," he promises as he opens the front door. "How about I give you a ride to school tomorrow?" he asks.

I frown. "Why?" I ask.

"Well, I want the excuse to be able to pick you up after school and take you to the movies. That's what friends do, right? Go to the movies, hang out, that sort of thing," he replies.

I purse my lips in thought before sighing. "I'm never going to hear the end of this from my friends," I tell him. "But I'll let you be my ride to and from school tomorrow."

"Perfect!" he says. "I'll pick you up at seven."

"Seven it is, then," I agree. "See you in the morning."

"See ya," he replies, walking down the steps. I watch from the door as he makes his way to his car. He looks over and sees I'm watching him as he reaches it. He waves his goodbye and I wave goodbye in return, a reluctant smile on my lips. He then climbs in his car, buckles up, and starts the engine. We exchange one last wave before he pulls out of my drive.

I smile and go back inside, locking up the screen and front door behind me. Things are starting to change and I'm not sure if I like where they're heading but I know it's too late to start fighting. That window of opportunity closed as soon as I ran into Damon's arms last night.

**Damon**

As I make the drive to the boarding house, I have to admit that tonight's ending really was a shocker. I had thought I'd have to work much harder to make her open to the idea of being friends with me. Well, that actually set my plans _forward_ a good deal. Friendship is going to quickly turn to romance and then she'll be _mine._ And Stefan won't lay a finger on her. Don't know what he came over to the Gilbert house tonight for, but he is _definitely_ not going to touch her after what he _thought_ he saw happen between me and her on the couch. Life is going good. Now I just have to make sure that Stefan doesn't get it in his head to put me back in that damn cell in a second attempt at desiccating me.


	3. It's Not a Date

Unforeseen Consequences  
DG32173

Sarah: here's chapter 3. I hope everyone continues to enjoy what I have in store. Starts in Elena's viewpoint. Beware of more viewpoints than just Damon's and Elena's, but just for this chapter. You'll have to wait to see it when it happens but I assure you, you're going to love it. One more thing: I _know_ that the movie _"Frozen"_ was only released last year and wasn't even thought about in 2009, but deal with it. I wanted something that Elena would talk Damon into taking her to only for him to swear he will never again let her choose what movie to watch at the cinema while Stefan, Caroline, and Bonnie are dumbstruck trying to figure out how she got him to watch it. By the way, I don't own the movie _"Frozen"._

_**CREDIT**_  
_The Mystical Gazette_ is a tabloids paper my beta, Cameron, and I came up with for Mystic Falls. Just thought I'd let you lovely readers know where it came from.

_**REVIEW REPLIES**_

_YAZMIN V:_ yep, Damon is going to do everything in his power to make sure Elena becomes _his_ while at the same time keeping Stefan at bay. And Stefan _does_ feel betrayed but you're right in that he doesn't feel for Elena the way Damon does, though Damon doesn't know just yet that he _is_ in love with Elena. And you're right that Elena _does_ feel something strong for Damon. It was a mixture of those strong feelings for Damon, hormones, and seeing Damon topless that had culminated in their lovely times together.

_vampgurl97:_ so glad you enjoyed the last chapter. Here's the next one.

_damon-elena-delena:_ I'm glad you loved the last chapter. And no, Katherine hasn't made an appearance. I don't plan on having her appear in this fanfic as anything other than a reference and a picture. Here's the next chapter.

_imarifirst:_ **(chuckles)** you'll see what happens when it happens. So glad you enjoyed the first chapter. As for your review to the second chapter, I'll admit I had a few giggles writing the scene where Bonnie admits that Damon is sexy. I'll do my best on future smut scenes. I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as you enjoyed the first two.

_Damon'sBourbon1864:_ glad you enjoyed the second chapter as much as the first one. You're right, Damon _will_ have Elena though she tries so hard to resist. I hope you continue to enjoy what I have in store for everyone.

_dyalli:_ Yep, Damon's plan is working perfectly. Here's the next chapter.

_kfulmer7:_ so glad you enjoyed last chapter. I hope you continue enjoying what I have in store for my lovely readers.

delena: I'm so glad you have enjoyed the story so far. Here's the update.

_Leeginger:_ **(blushes)** you and _PattyFleur87_ are giving me such high praise and I swear I'm gonna have permanently crimson cheeks because of it! Here's the next chapter.

_rcardinals4:_ so glad you have enjoyed the story so far. Here's the third chapter.

Gracy: here's the next chapter.

* * *

Chapter 3  
It's Not a Date

I sigh as I stare in my closet, trying to choose the perfect outfit for today. I'm only dressed in a black lace-and-silk bra and matching panties and I'm sorting through my selection, trying to find something that is casual and welcoming but doesn't even whisper 'I'm on a date'. Damon's not due for another half hour. I've already had my shower and my hair is put up in a French braid down the middle of my back.

Suddenly an all-too-familiar masculine voice says from the doorway, "Loving the show, Elena. But hurry up, we're on a schedule."

I whirl around to glare at Damon. "Get _out!"_ I scream.

He smirks, trailing his eyes over my front and quite obviously enjoying the view. "Go with the black off-shoulder blouse and the pair of skinny jeans your left hand is on," he suggests. "You won't need a jacket today. It's supposed to be unusually warm for this time of year."

I grab the first thing my hand lands on and throw it at him. My brush hits the door he had shut in the time it took for me to grab it. I hear his laughter echo back to me as he heads downstairs. I groan and look at the two articles of clothing he had named. I had half-expected that he'd suggest something that screams 'eye-candy' but he actually picked out just the kind of clothes I was trying to choose. I grab them and quickly slip them on. I then go to the bathroom to apply a light coat of silver eye shadow and strawberry-flavored lip gloss. When I return to my room I hesitate before adding a touch of the perfume he had once complimented to each wrist as well as a dab on either side of my neck.

I then shoulder my backpack and grab my purse before heading downstairs, where I find Damon chatting it up with Jenna as if he had done nothing wrong. I scowl at him when he trails his eyes over me again as I walk past him to grab the only remaining Poptart from the toaster. I eat it quickly before chasing it down with a glass of milk. 'Okay, let's go," I tell him.

"Right away, Miss Elena," he teases, pushing away from the counter he was leaning against. "See you later, Jenna," he says.

"Bye, Jenna," I tell her.

"See you two later," she calls as we make our way out of the house.

I make it to the bottom of the porch steps before I realize that Damon had put the top down on his convertible. I pause a moment to contemplate the situation but sigh, deciding that trying to figure out Damon's motives is impossible. Instead I finish crossing the distance between me and the passenger side of his convertible.

**Damon**

I smirk when Elena doesn't sense me coming up behind her. I scoop her up in my arms and immediately hear the sound of a camera snapping a picture. So that girl from _The Mystical Gazette_ is back. The tabloid has had one of its star reporters following me around for a week now. Normally I manage to ditch her before she gets any pictures. But this is one time I _want_ my picture in the tabloid, a picture of me and Elena that is. "Damon! What the hell do you think you're doing?" she demands.

"Just helping you in," I tell her, lifting her over the passenger door to gently deposit her in the front passenger seat of the Camaro. I tuck a stray strand of hair behind her ear and hear another picture being taken.

"Show-off," Elena mutters as she fastens her seatbelt. I walk around the front of the Camaro to vault over the driver's door. "Why were you _walking?"_ Elena demands. "I thought you were in a hurry."

I fasten my seatbelt with a smirk. "What if someone looked out their window and saw me moving quickly?" I ask. "It _is_ the time of morning people in this neighborhood get moving."

She sighs, knowing I have a good point. I'm not going to tell her about the tabloid reporter that's been following me, not yet anyways. I start the engine and pull out of Elena's drive. I hear another engine start as I get a little ways down the road Elena lives on. I glance in my rearview mirror and am rewarded with the visage of a familiar maroon Ford F150. Definitely being followed. I focus on the face of the driver. Yep, tabloid girl. Ah, well, she won't get anything else because I can't very well get by with stealing a kiss in front of the whole damn student body of the high school. Elena would jam a stake in me for _sure_ if I tried that.

When I turn into the high school parking lot, tabloid girl keeps driving because she knows damn well she won't be getting any other goodies. I also note that as I aim the Camaro towards a free parking spot, the grounds are getting quieter and quieter as people take note of _who_ is in the passenger seat of my car. By the time I shut off my engine, it's dead quiet.

"They're all staring, aren't they," Elena asks softly.

I look around. "Well, there's one … oh, nope, his buddy just told him that you're in my car and he turned to stare. So yep, everyone's staring," I reply dryly.

She sighs. "Just my luck," she grouses. "Sometimes I wish I weren't so popular."

"Give it up, Elena. They'd be staring even if you were Average Jane Doe. You're in _my_ car. That calls for staring," I tell her. Suddenly, two particular high school girls shake free of their paralysis and start making their way towards us, their all-too-obvious wrath causing those who are in their path to clear out of the way. "Your girlfriends are heading this way. I suggest you get out now or you're going to get it even worse. They're getting madder by the second."

Elena sighs and unbuckles her seat belt before opening the passenger door. "Thanks for the ride, Damon," she says, sounding tired. She climbs out and grabs her backpack and purse from the seat between us

"Anytime," I reply, starting the engine back up.

**Elena**

I shoulder my backpack and purse before turning to go face the Inquisition my girlfriends will put me through for this. Damon pulls out of the parking spot as soon as I'm up on the sidewalk. I sigh as Bonnie and Caroline stop in front of me in matching crossed-arm, spread legged poses with identical enraged expressions.

**Damon**

As I pull slowly out of the parking lot, I catch Stefan's gaze and flash him my wickedest smirk. If I didn't know just how impossible it is for a vampire to have a heart attack, I'd bet all my money on him having one in the next few seconds. He can see plain as day that Elena is still wearing the necklace he had given her to protect her from any vampire mind games I'd play with her. As soon as he sees my expression, his turns murderous. But he knows damn well there's nothing he can do. She had been wearing her necklace last night when she answered the door, after all. She had accepted this ride to school under her own free will, and he damn well knows it. I give him a mocking two-finger salute before picking up the pace of leaving the campus.

**Elena**

"Elena, what the _hell_ are you thinking?" Caroline demands. "Was it _Damon_ who … the other night?"

I sigh, deciding that honesty is best. "I told you, it was hormones," I tell her.

"Let me guess, the ride to school was also _'hormones'?"_ Bonnie grinds out.

"No," I tell her. "He showed up at my place last night while I was running errands after school and Jenna let him make dinner for us. Then we all watched _Titanic,_ which _he_ picked out."

"And what was the ride to school? A thank you?" Caroline demands.

"Look, Caroline, I know what he put you through. But I think he's trying to change. As in _really_ trying to change," I tell her.

"Or maybe he's just trying to make you his next heartbreak," Caroline says. "Have you ever thought of that?"

"I told him that he's going to have to bust his ass to earn even friendship," I assure her. "He talked me into going to the movies with him after school as a start on that road. Hence the ride."

"Sounds more like a _date_ to me," Bonnie says.

"A guy and a girl going to see a movie together, just the two of them?" Caroline asks rhetorically. "Sounds like a date to me."

I sigh. "It's _not_ a date," I tell them.

"He _wants_ you, Elena," Bonnie points out. "He's _obsessed_ with you. He's a _monster!"_

I scowl. "And yet you were all for me hooking up with his brother," I point out cruelly. "Who, might I add, is _just_ as obsessed with me. Stefan showed up last night as well but fled when he found out Damon was over. He wouldn't even tell me why he showed up in the first place."

"Ever think he might have wanted to ask you out only to find out you already had Damon in your house?" Caroline asks.

I snap at that. "Look, _everyone_ deserves a chance to redeem themselves," I tell them crossly. "If I didn't believe that so strongly, the three of us wouldn't be the friends we are, now _would_ we?" Chagrin immediately takes over their expressions. They had both done some major things during the course of our friendship that would have made anyone else cut ties with them completely. "I gave you both more chances at redemption from the backstabbing you've both done to me than anyone else in the world would have. I'm giving Damon _one_ chance at redemption. I warned him that if he screws up his _one_ chance, he won't get another. If you two can stab me in the back countless times and still have me forgive you and give you a chance to redeem yourselves of it, then I think even Damon deserves _one_ shot at redemption. I give you my word that he's going to have to bust his ass to prove to me that he deserves a chance at being my friend. But you should both know that I don't think Damon has _any_ friends. I know I'd be a real bitch to be around if everyone around me, _including_ my own family, took one look at me and decided I wasn't worth the effort of salvaging. _That's_ the position Damon's in. No one believes he has good in him. So why should he _try_ to show his good side when no one thinks he has one? I'm giving him the chance to prove to the whole damn world, _including_ his own brother, that he actually _has_ a good side, that he _is_ worth the effort it would take to redeem him of the sins he's committed. If you two are too petty to allow me to try to redeem a man who hasn't had anyone on his side in Heaven only knows _how_ long, then I'm going to wash my hands of you both because I am not friends with people who are that petty." With that, I turn on my heel and make my way towards the entrance to the school while they are frozen with matching dumbstruck expressions on their faces. I only get halfway to the school when I'm intercepted by Stefan. He opens his mouth but I don't give him a chance to speak. "Look, Stefan, I'm not in the mood to hear how Damon doesn't have a soul and how he's evil incarnate. I just got a similar story form my friends and I told them that if they are too petty to allow me to _try_ to redeem a man who hasn't had anyone _believe_ in him in Heaven only knows how long, then they couldn't be my friends because I am not friends with petty people who would let personal issues stand in the way of letting me try to redeem someone of their sins. Not even _you_ believe in him anymore. He's your _brother_ for Christ's sake. Family is the most important bond a person can have. _No one_ should allow _anyone_ or _anything_ to get in the way of that bond. If you can't handle the thought of me trying to redeem your brother from his life of sin when you are too damn _selfish_ to do so yourself, then you can pack your bags and get out of town tonight. If I'm not going to take that kind of pettiness from girls who have been my best friends since we were in _diapers,_ I damn well won't listen to it from a guy who has only been in my life for a few _months._ Whatever claim you _think_ you have on me doesn't exist in _my_ mind. He's your _brother,_ Stefan. _Neither_ of you should have let Katherine get between you. Family comes first, before _anything_ else. I'm not going to stand by and let you two use _me_ as a reason to heighten a feud that shouldn't have started in the first place. Grow up and let me try to redeem your brother's ass from his life of sin that will undoubtedly send him straight to Hell otherwise. If you aren't going to be an adult about this, then you can leave town _tonight._ And if you think Damon's compelled me or something, I haven't taken this necklace off since you gave it to me, not even when I didn't know just how important the 'good luck herb' in it was. If you ever speak derogatively about him again in my hearing, I _will_ ask Damon for a replacement and I'll return this to you. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have classes to attend."

With that, I step around him and make my way inside. I'm feeling pretty damn righteous at the moment. It feels good to have a cause.

After last bell

I had successfully avoided Bonnie, Caroline, _and_ Stefan all day, proving to them that I won't associate with them if they won't be supportive of my attempts to redeem Damon of his past. I make it to my locker without running into any of them. I rush to get the books I need for homework so I can get outside before any of them can corner me. I succeed in that much.

I'm halfway across the lawn between the school and the student parking lot, where I see Damon waiting for me by his car, when I realize that Caroline and Bonnie are closing in on me from my left and Stefan's zeroing in from my right. They're trying to catch me before I reach Damon. I mouth 'help' to Damon. He nods and jogs towards me while I pick up the pace from a walk to a trot.

I notice that the others are trying to pick up their pace but there are hordes of students between them and me while my path to Damon clears itself. Talk of my enraged speeches had spread like wildfire over the school day, the story getting more elaborate with each telling as rumor of my arrival to school in Damon's car spread with it. By last bell, I had people coming up to me asking if I really _was_ engaged to Damon Salvatore and had forbidden my girlfriends from infancy as well as his brother from attending the wedding. That's how crazy small town rumor mills are. Running straight to Damon while avoiding Stefan, Caroline, and Bonnie is only going to throw another log on the fire. But, right now, I could care less.

Thanks to the help of the student body of Mystic Falls High, I make it to Damon without being intercepted by Stefan, Bonnie, _or_ Caroline. He smirks at me and we walk to his car side-by-side as a cheer rises from the crowd. The cheer gets even louder when Damon insists on a repeat performance of this morning's act of getting me in the car. He trots around the front of the car to vault over the door into the driver's seat.

It's only when we're on the road to The Grill to hang out until time for our movie – which we picked out by way of text messages before I went to bed – that Damon speaks. "Mind telling me what that was all about?" he asks.

I sigh. "The combination of you dropping me off at school this morning followed by my verbally flaying Bonnie, Caroline, and Stefan has resulted in the rumor mill going into overdrive and resulting in us being engaged and those three forbidden to attend the wedding by last bell. My avoiding them all day and your stunt of lifting me over the door to put me in the seat did nothing to help the matter."

Damon chuckles. "Never thought I'd end up engaged without actually proposing," he teases.

"Funny, I thought you were married to your ego," I retort, though I'm smiling. "That's what I've been telling everyone who asked about the rumor."

He chuckles again. "So, what did those three do to earn your fury?" he asks, changing the subject.

"They were being petty, letting their grievances with you get in the way of letting me give you a chance to redeem yourself from all the horrible things you've done in your life," I reply. "I told them in no uncertain terms that I refuse to be friends with petty people and proceeded to avoid them the rest of the day to prove my point."

**Damon**

I open my mouth to make a wisecrack about her avoiding those three when I realize _precisely_ what she said prior to that. I close my mouth without a word leaving it and frown. The rest of the ride to The Grill is made in silence as she lets me turn her words over in my head, trying to make sense of what she's saying. She has no notion as to just how black with sin I've let my soul become over the decades. But now she says she's giving me a chance to redeem myself from all that sin? This is a shocking new development and I'm not quite sure _what_ to think about it.

When I pull into The Grill's parking lot, I decide that I'm going to just concentrate on winning Elena's trust and romancing her onto my arm and let the dice fall where they may. Pulling off a royal flush in hearts with Elena is going to be enough to tie up my attention. I smirk at Elena s we get out. "Up for a game of pool?" I ask when we meet at the front of the Camaro.

"Playing pool with a vampire?" she asks wryly. "You're going to kick my ass."

"We could always see if there's anyone else around and double up," I point out. "You and me against a couple of clueless townies. We're so going to win."

"And we'll get called cheaters because you're a 'natural' at it," she says.

"We're not going to _hustle_ them, Elena," I tell her. "Just play for fun."

She sighs. "Okay, fine," she agrees. "Just don't pull off anything that a normal human can't do."

I chuckle. "I'll have you know I've been masquerading as a human pretty much since I was turned," I tell her as we head inside. I hold the door for her and she smiles gratefully at me as she steps inside. I follow after her. "I'd have been killed long ago if I hadn't kept up the charade."

We look around the bar and realize that we had arrived at one of those extraordinarily rare moments when there is no one but the staff in the building. "Looks like the two-on-two game isn't happening," she says softly.

"Nope," I agree. Then inspiration strikes in the form of a brilliant bet I could make with her. "But I'll make a bet with you."

She turns to me with a frown. "What sort of bet?" she asks cautiously.

"I bet that I can sink a pool ball before you can. I won't even have to use my vampire abilities. If I win the bet, I get to teach you how to double-up. If you win, I have to play the rest of the games we play until it's time to go to the theatre with only the abilities of the average pool-playing human," I tell her.

She frowns. "Double-up? As in two playing as one?" she asks dubiously.

"Yep," I tell her, popping the 'p'.

She gnaws at her lower lip as she debates the pros and cons of this bet in her head. "And anything goes excluding your vampire abilities in trying to sink a ball?" she asks.

I frown, wondering what game she's planning on doing. But I decide that this is my only chance at getting her to agree. "Anything goes excluding my vampire abilities," I reply.

She smirks and I know she's up to something. I just smirk right back. If all else fails, I'll just use my hand to pluck the ball into the hole. After all, even humans have hands. We make our way over to the pool tables and pick out our pool cues, carefully checking for the right weight and balance. Elena grabs a rack and we find our table. We fetch all the balls from the pockets and I set up the rack properly.

"I'll take the solid balls," she says.

"You like all your balls solid, Elena?" I ask cheekily.

"Too bad yours are striped," she teases.

I have to admit that throws me for a loop for a moment. Then I chuckle. "I like this fun Elena, you should bring her out more often," I tell her.

**Stefan**

Caroline, Bonnie, and I have finally tracked down Damon's car to The Grill. Just as we're walking inside, I hear Elena's voice from near the pool tables. "I haven't had this much fun since my parents died. Thanks, Damon," she says.

The girls hear that perfectly well considering the three of us as well as Damon and Elena are the only people here who aren't part of the staff. We exchange matching expressions of shock before turning our collective attention to getting a booth near the pool tables to watch what they do on what is supposedly _not_ a date.

**Caroline**

My mind was instantly fried upon hearing those two sentences fall from Elena's lips. Seriously! What is _wrong_ with her? That's _Damon Salvatore,_ evil incarnate!

**Bonnie**

Rage fills me up upon hearing those two sentences from Elena. Grams had told me last night that Fate had mingled Damon and Elena's paths for a reason the night she gave her virginity to him. But this is _absurd!_ After everything he's done to Caroline and this town, I'm supposed to just let him turn his evil attentions to Elena? Forget it!

**Elena**

I smirk at Damon. "Okay, who's breaking?" I ask.

"I was raised to be a gentleman," he replies. "Some of my manners may have slipped away over the years, but I still say ladies first. So after you, Elena."

I turn my attention to the pool table and bend over to get the perfect shot. I used to be a damn good pool player before my parents died. Right as I make to strike the white ball with my cue, Damon 'accidentally' bumps into me and my shot goes awry. The white ball hits the seven but the rack barely breaks. I scowl at him. "Anything goes, remember?" he points out.

'So that's how you're going to play, huh?' I think. I smirk and make sure to keep on the opposite side of the pool table from him so that when he bends to shoot, I can lean forward on my elbows and give him a glimpse down my blouse. That's enough to give him a lapse in concentration and his shot goes wild, hitting the edge of the white ball rather than the center. The white ball spins off wildly. He frowns at me and I just smile innocently. "Anything goes, remember?" I mimic him.

He chuckles and motions for me to make my play.

**Stefan**

'What the _hell_ is going on here?' I think. This isn't a date, Elena said, but it sure looks like one.

**Caroline**

Okay, I'll admit it; using a view down her shirt to distract Damon from his shot was a little devious on Elena's part. But this isn't supposed to be a date!

**Bonnie**

I'm so tempted to make Damon spontaneously combust into flames, but Grams had warned me not to meddle in Fate's plans for them. She said a witch is a balance of nature but not one that interferes with the Tapestry of Time woven by Fate. Doesn't mean I have to like that the threads for Elena and Damon are intertwined right now. I just pray that they will separate _soon._ This is sure looking like a date.

**Damon**

It's safe to say that war has been declared between Elena and me in this bet. As we each try to sink one of our own balls, the other's methods of distraction become more heated. Before long I've unbuttoned several buttons on my shirt and Elena's pulled her blouse pretty damn low in the front, indecently so to be honest. While we are each quite distracted by the other, we still make valiant attempts to stay focused on the game. In the end, though, I just pick up the ten-ball and plunk it in a hole. Elena gasps in outrage. "What? Everyone has hands, last time I checked," I tell her cheekily. Though we have been focused primarily on each other, I have noted that the bar has steadily been filling during our game. It wouldn't do for a human to overhear any comments that would make them suspicious about me not being human. "We did agree that anything goes save for my special abilities."

She shakes her head. "I wish I had thought of that," she admits. She sighs. "All right, a bet's a bet. You won."

I chuckle, take her cue and put it up.

**Stefan**

It's grown rather crowded during Damon and Elena's competition so even I'm having trouble making out everything they're saying. When Damon places Elena's cue on the rack, I think that means they're done. But he keeps his cue as he returns to her. What follows that has my eyes widening in horror.

**Caroline**

Okay, I don't like that Damon's returning to Elena with just his cue. This can't be good. This _really_ can't be good. She said this wasn't a date!

**Bonnie**

I feel my heart nearly stop when I realize why Damon's kept just his cue. What the hell is going on here? Elena was vehement in her denial of this being a date but it sure is turning _into_ one!

**Matt**

As I walk into The Grill to start my shift, I happen to glance towards the pool tables. What I see has me stopping in my tracks as I watch one of my worst nightmares come true. It had been bad enough that Elena had broken up with me. It was worse when she seemed to become interested in Stefan almost from Day One. But now she's doing _this_ with _Damon?_ That's downright nightmarish. But I can't really stand here watching them. I have to clock in and get to work. The bills won't pay themselves, after all.

**Elena**

I allow Damon to come up behind me and place his hands over mine while my hands are gripping his pool cue. "Follow my lead," he whispers in my ear. I nod and he shows me how two people play pool as one.

And it's actually quite fun as Damon skillfully guides me into sinking one ball after another. As we lean down together to shoot the eight ball into the right corner pocket, Damon places a swift kiss on my cheeks. I turn and glare at him. "If my hands were free, I'd slap you for that," I tell him.

"Good thing they aren't," he retorts as he guides me into shooting the eight ball into its designated pocket while neither of us are looking right at the table. "Let's play another game. Full rack, double-up."

At that point his watch beeps to alert us that we need to get to the theatre for our movie. "Another time," I tell him. "We have a movie to get to."

He pulls away and bows his submission. "We did plan this night specifically for the movie," he concedes. "The pool game was just a bonus."

"True," I agree.

Damon puts the pool cue and the rack up and returns to my side. "Let's get going," he says, wrapping an arm around my shoulders to guide me to the door.

"Who said you could do that?" I ask.

"Do what?" he asks innocently.

"Wrap your arm around my shoulders," I reply.

"You didn't shrug me off," he points out.

"Because you're stubborn and wouldn't have removed your arm," I tell him as we step outside. He chuckles and guides me to his car. As he moves to lift me in his arms, I smack him. "I am perfectly capable of getting into your car on my own," I say, opening the door.

"Maybe I just like holding you," he teases.

"Dream on," I tell him.

He just chuckles and walks around the front of the car to climb in the driver's seat. When we get on the road, Damon glances in the rearview mirror. "Don't look now, but I think we have company," he says.

I glance in the side mirror and see an all-too-familiar white Prius. I can just make out two figures in front and one in the middle of the back seat in the twilight. I sigh. "Do you know how long they've been with us?" I ask.

"No clue. I was a little distracted by a certain brunette who is quite the tease when she wants to win a bet," he replies.

"Don't act like I was the _only_ one doing that," I tell him.

"Never said you were," he points out, turning into the theatre's parking lot. I cast a surreptitious glance back and see the white Prius turn into the parking lot as Damon finds a parking spot. "They're still with us," he says.

"I can see that," I tell him as he pulls into a parking spot. We get out and meet at the front of the Camaro. There's no sense locking up when the roof is down. "Well, they're probably going to wonder if we've lost our minds to be watching our movie."

"If they even watch it, that is," he replies, wrapping an arm around my shoulders and leading me toward the ticket booth. "I think they're more interested in watching _us_ than watching a movie."

I sigh. "True," I admit.

We arrive at the ticket booth. "Two for _'Frozen',"_ Damon requests.

The transaction is quickly made and we're told our movie will be shown in theatre six. We then head inside where Damon insists on getting us a huge tub of popcorn with extra butter to share and two large drinks. We both get fruit punch Hi-C. Damon takes the drinks while I take the popcorn and we make our way to theatre six. We make our way down to a pair of seats in the middle of the left section of seats, halfway between the doors leading to the rest of the cinema and the big screen.

**Stefan**

Caroline, Bonnie, and I make our way to the ticket booth. "Three for the movie those two are watching," I request.

"Three for _'Frozen',"_ the attendant says, getting the tickets ready. Caroline, Bonnie, and I exchange matching looks of shock. How did Elena talk Damon into taking her to a _Disney_ movie? Before we can think too hard on it, the attendant tells us how much our tickets will cost. The girls insist on pitching in for their tickets. "The movie will be shown in theatre six," the attendant says.

We stop by the concession stand to each get a drink and a small bag of popcorn. I have a feeling things aren't going to go smoothly for much longer.

**Damon**

It takes a few minutes before I hear the three stooges _trying_ to sneak into the theatre. I lean over and whisper in Elena's ear, "We have company."

She sighs. She opens her mouth to answer but that's when the lights dim to signal that the movie is about to start. She closes her mouth again and we proceed to watch the Mickey Mouse cartoon that precedes the movie, _"Get a Horse"._ I find it to be a little amusing but I'm quite ready for the movie by the time it's over. When the movie starts, I soon realize that this is either going to be torture or hilarious. As the movie progresses, I realize that I was wrong: it's a little of both. Granted, the adult humor in the movie is hilarious but there is _way_ too much singing and dancing and most of the songs are actually completely tasteless.

**Stefan**

Okay, what the _hell_ did Elena do to get Damon to agree to take her to _this_ kind of movie? I wouldn't mind it but Damon would consider this to be torture to watch because of all the music. But rather than watching the movie, I watch Damon and Elena with raging jealousy as they exchange soft commentary to each other over the scenes while sharing that tub of popcorn. Every time their hands 'accidentally' brush each other's as they reach for a handful of popcorn, Elena gives Damon a look that should be annoyed but the effect is ruined by the smile tugging at her lips. Damon just smirks at her.

**Caroline**

Damon never took _me_ to the movies! All he wanted from me was sex and … I can't really remember what the other thing he wanted from me was, but I know it wasn't good. And why is a tough guy like Damon sitting through a movie like _this?_ What is it he feels for Elena? More importantly, what does Elena feel for _him?_

**Bonnie**

Okay, I'll admit it. My attention got distracted from Damon and Elena at the first signs that _'Frozen'_ portrays someone with magical powers. True, ice and snow isn't really my thing, but I might be able to learn something from the trials Elsa is put through. So I confess that I paid more attention to the movie than to the two my attention _should_ have been fixed on.

**Elena**

As the closing credits flash across the screen, I grab Damon's wrist as he goes to get up. He glances at me and I nod in the direction of where our three followers are seated. He smirks and settles back down. We're going to wait for the credits to finish rolling and the theatre to clear before leaving so that we can catch Stefan, Caroline, and Bonnie in their seats. They're not going to be able to easily explain why they are here.

Damon leans closer to whisper in my ear. "I am _never_ letting you pick the movie again."

I chuckle. "Admit it; you got a laugh out of the adult humor. Particularly when Olaf rammed into an icicle and said 'Look! I got impaled!'" I retort softly.

He shakes his head, an amused smirk on his lips. "Well, that scene _was_ pretty funny," he admits quietly. "You are still never picking the movie again."

"Okay, credits are over, let's get going," I say. We stand up and make our way out of our row of seats. We make it up to the end of the row of seats where our followers were before they do. They all immediately gain chagrined expressions to see Damon and me standing there. "Enjoy the movie?" I ask.

"Yes," Stefan says quickly.

"It was very good," Caroline agrees hastily.

Bonnie refuses to meet my eyes. I shrug. "Well, what did you think about Christoff? He made a good prince for Anna, don't you think?" I ask.

"Yeah, the song between them was good," Stefan replies.

"I loved his horse," Caroline pipes up.

I shake my head. "Christoff didn't _sing_ any songs with Anna," I point out. Stefan and Caroline immediately find their shoelaces incredibly fascinating. Bonnie still won't meet my eyes. "He wasn't a prince. And he didn't have a horse. He had a reindeer, which was named Sven. Care to explain what you three are doing here if you didn't watch the movie?"

The three of them exchange nervous looks with each other. "I say they were spying on us," Damon speaks up. All three of them wince. "Looks like I'm right."

"Spying is rude," I tell them crossly. "It's invasive and unbecoming. I wouldn't have thought you three would stoop so low." Three guilty expressions appear right before three sets of eyes lower to examine their shoelaces. I sigh and turn to Damon. "Let's go, Damon," I tell him.

He smirks and nods. We turn and make our way out of the cinema, throwing away our empty cups and popcorn tub at the first trashcan we pass. We make our way outside and I roll my eyes when Damon uses his vampire speed to scoop me in his arms before I can stop him. He smirks at me, clutching me close to his chest briefly. I frown at him, crossing my arms. He chuckles and gentle deposits me into the passenger seat of his Camaro.

When Damon pulls the Camaro onto the road, he doesn't turn in the direction of my house. "Where are we going?" I ask tersely.

"I figured we'd top off this friendly evening together with a game of strip poker at the boarding house," he replies.

"I don't recall being _asked_ if I wanted to play," I say tightly.

"Make you another bet," he tells me.

"And what kind of bet would make me _willing_ to play strip poker with you?" I ask, turning a raised eyebrow at him.

He flashes me a smirk. "I bet I can get you completely stripped while I still have something on. If I win, you have to do what I say for the evening."

"And if I get you stripped first?" I ask, licking my lips thoughtfully.

"_I_ have to do what _you_ say for the evening," he replies.

I purse my lips thoughtfully. "Throw in unlimited access to your alcohol stash throughout the game and I'm sure I can handle this," I tell him.

"Elena, darling, indulging in alcohol is the only _good_ way to play strip poker," he chuckles.

I sigh. "Fine, we've got our bet," I tell him, "on _one_ condition."

"And what condition would _that_ be?" he asks, smirking.

"My necklace doesn't count as clothing," I say sternly.

His smirk disappears. "I wouldn't ask you to remove your vervaine necklace," he replies, more serious than I have ever seen him. Then the moment of seriousness is gone. "Unless I was replacing that hideous piece of junk with something much more appropriate to your beauty," he adds wryly.

I roll my eyes. Damon Salvatore is completely incapable of being serious for more than ten second intervals, I swear it. And I feel the need to point that out. "Damon Salvatore, you are completely incapable of being serious for more than ten second intervals at a time, aren't you?" I ask. When he doesn't answer, I turn to look at him. I have never seen a look quite like the one in his eyes right now but I know that whatever he is thinking about that is causing that look sends chills down my spine. "Damon?" I ask, instinctively reaching my left hand out to pry his right hand from the wheel. He lets me, even letting me lace our fingers together. "Did I say something wrong?" I ask softly.

"I can be serious when there's a need for it," he says softly. "I'd rather see the humorous side of the situation when I can. Otherwise I'd end up just as broody and _boring_ as Stefan." He squeezes my hand gently and flashes a smirk at me. "Tell anyone about this and you're going to regret it."

I nod my understanding and he turns his eyes back to the road. We keep our hands laced together between us until he has to free his hand to work with the clutch so he can pull into the driveway to the boarding house. We're three-quarters of the way down the driveway when Damon suddenly slows down. "What?" I ask, looking at him.

"Tabloids," he grouses. "I didn't think they'd actually try to stake out the boarding house."

I grimace. Then I realize what he's saying. "Wait, _how_ long have you been followed by them?" I ask.

"Too long," he replies.

I smack him. "And yet you pulled off all those shenanigans today?" I snap.

"Don't know what you're talking about," he teases.

That's when we break into the clearing surrounding the boarding house. I immediately recognize the maroon Ford F150. "Huh," I muse.

"Recognize it, do you?" he asks, parking in his usual spot in the driveway.

"That truck belongs to Amy Spice, one of the full-time employees at The Grill," I reply as he turns off the engine. We climb out and I realize that the cab of Amy's truck is empty.

"Looks like your friend knows how to pick a lock," Damon says, nodding towards the front door, which is propped open.

I grimace. "She's the one who taught me the proper technique," I admit. "She never told me where she learned the skill."

We make our way inside to find Amy examining an old, leather bound book in the foyer. "You know, this is called breaking and entering," Damon calls to her, causing her to drop the book. "But then, I doubt you had expected anyone to come back so soon. It would be so easy to give my friend the sheriff a call and report this."

"No, no, that won't be necessary," Amy protests, grabbing her camera. "I was just leaving."

Damon cuts off her escape path and captures her eyes and mind with his own. "Let me see your camera," he compels. She obediently passes her camera over. "You will stand there and stay quiet while I make sure there are no pictures on it that shouldn't be," he further compels. He then turns his attention to the pictures on her camera. After only a few minutes, though, he starts deleting picture after picture, apparently ones taken here in the boarding house. When he's done he turns his attention back to Amy. "You will leave my property and have no recollection of coming here or of anything you saw in the boarding house. And you will never come back here," he compels. "Now, take your camera and go." Amy takes her camera and obediently walks out the door. I sigh. Damon arches an eyebrow at me. "It was either compel her or kill her, Elena," he says dryly. "She had some pretty incriminating evidence that Stefan and I aren't human on her camera. I can't let what she found become public knowledge."

I shake my head. "We came here to play cards and drink," I tell him.

**Damon**

"So we did," I reply with a grin. I motion to the seating arrangement near the fireplace. "Make yourself comfortable. I'll go find a deck of cards." I flash upstairs to the hall closet where the games and decks of cards are kept. I grab the first pack of _regular_ cards my hand touches before closing the closet door and vamping back downstairs. I lightly toss the pack to Elena, who's seated on the couch opposite the one Stefan had claimed as his own. She catches it while I make my way over to the alcohol cabinet to select a couple of high quality bottles of bourbon as well as a couple of whiskey glasses. I carry my selection back to the coffee table between the two couches. "Allow me to set the mood and then we can play," I tell her with a chuckle. I ignore her frown as I go to build a fire in the hearth. The logs catch with the first match, as always. I then go turn off the overhead lighting to leave the foyer bathed in firelight. Finally, I take a seat across from Elena on Stefan's couch. "You can deal the first hand," I tell her, leaning forward to fill both our glasses from the first bottle of bourbon. I nudge her glass closer to her while picking mine up for a swallow.

"Five card draw okay?" she asks, pulling the deck out of the box and sorting out the jokers. She begins shuffling the cards quickly and easily.

"Sure," I agree. I watch closely as she shuffles then cuts the deck before dealing each of us five cards. I swipe my hand up and examine what I was dealt. I take a sip of my bourbon. I've got the sixes of hearts, spades, and diamonds as well as the two of hearts and the three of clubs. I decide to cash in the two of hearts for another card and am well-rewarded with the six of spades. I glance at Elena. "Cashing anything in?" I ask.

She has a small smile on her lips. "I like what I was dealt," she replies.

"Show your hand then," I say smugly. "Four of a kind," I say, showing my hand.

"That's good," she admits. Her eyes twinkle in the firelight. "But mine's better: royal flush in hearts," she says, lowering her hand for me to see.

I'll admit it, my jaw drops at that. "Okay, how on _earth_ did you get such a good hand on first draw _without_ stacking the deck?" I demand, placing my cards on the table and shrugging out of my jacket. "I watched you shuffle and cut the deck. There's no _way_ you should have gotten that lucky," I continue, tossing my jacket on the floor next to me.

"I've always had a good deal of luck in card games," she says, sliding her cards towards me. "Your turn to deal," she adds, picking up her glass of whiskey to take a swallow.

I shuffle and cut the deck before dealing us each a hand. Elena sorts through her hand, organizing as she frowns thoughtfully. I examine my own hand and see that if I had one more heart card rather than a diamond, I'd have a flush. Elena puts two cards down and draws two from the deck. I get rid of the three of diamonds and draw an ace of hearts. I smirk and examine her expression. She studies her hand before sighing and folding.

"I fold," she says. She smirks at me and removes her watch to set it on the coffee table.

I scowl. "Okay, who said accessories counted?" I demand.

"Nobody said they didn't," she retorts.

"Oh, it's _on,"_ I tell her.

The game picks up from there. It takes nearly an hour and a half for us to get down to the last hand, at which point she's down to her panties and necklace while I'm down to my boxer briefs and daylight ring. As I examine my last hand, I decide that Karma is going to be a bitch on Elena. Where she started with a royal flush in hearts, I end with it. I smirk at her and see that she looks just as cocky as I feel. "Same time," I tell her.

"Three," she starts the countdown.

"Two," I continue.

"One," we say together, revealing our hands.

Well, I'll admit that she had a good reason to be cocky, having a final hand of a straight flush. But it's not going to beat a royal flush. "Hah! You have to obey _me_ for the evening," I crow. I grin wickedly at her. "Off with those panties, Miss Gilbert."

She groans and stands up to slide slowly out of her panties. Since I've chosen to keep her glass topped off while only filling mine up when I empty it, she has no idea that she had drank most of the two bottles of bourbon. I examine her glorious body, made ethereal by the light from the flickering flames in the hearth. I once again take note of all the subtle differences between her body and Katherine's as well as the major one in the form of Elena's birthmark. Without her panties catching most of the scent, I am bombarded by the delectable aroma of her menstrual cycle coming to a close. Thanks to the alcohol in her system, Elena's not the least bit shy about her nudity. I finally raise my eyes to hers and let her see the hunger in mine, hunger for _more_ than just her blood. Her delicious scent becomes even _more_ mouthwatering as arousal is added to the mix.

"Now get over here," I tell her. She rolls her eyes but obediently rounds the coffee table. "Sit in my lap." She sighs but knows that a bet is a bet. She moves to sit across my lap but I stop her with me hands on her luscious hips. "Facing me," I tell her, grinning as she groans but changes her position.

"Now what?" she asks, her gaze fierce as she looks in my eyes.

I contemplate my options on the way this night could lead. When I make my decision, I smirk at her. "Give me a lap dance," I order.

She raises an eyebrow. "You do know a good lap dance always starts with the dancer standing and some form of music playing, right?" she points out.

"And what do _you_ know about lap dances, Miss Gilbert?" I ask.

She chuckles. "Let's just say I learned about it early, without anyone knowing I wasn't old enough to legally perform them for tips," she replies. "I was the early-bloomer among my friends, though Caroline would never admit to not getting breasts first."

"Well, if you've performed for tips, you better be good," I tell her wickedly. "Show me what you have to offer."

"I'll need music," she retorts, standing up.

"What kind of music?" I ask, raising an eyebrow at her. I reach around her to grab the remote for the sound system I had installed throughout the first floor in the nineties and had upgraded when I came back this time.

"Hope you don't mind country because my favorite song to give a lap dance to has always been LeAnn Rimes' _'Can't Fight the Moonlight',"_ she replies.

"You know, I might actually have that song," I reply, turning the sound system on. I turn slightly so I can make out the display as I search the song. "Yep, got it," I say. I hit repeat then play.

Elena closes her eyes and loses herself to the music. And if it's not the most erotic thing I have ever seen, I'll eat my favorite jacket. She opens her eyes after a few seconds and dances her way to me, her body still moving in time to the music. She slithers into my lap and starts writhing against me in a way I have _never_ had anyone move against me and my eyes try desperately to roll back in my head. It's a struggle to keep my focus on her. She places a quick kiss on my lips while her body moves against mine. Her hands trail slowly, sensuously from my shoulders down my chest, over my stomach until they wrap around my dick, standing at attention between us and hidden beneath my boxer-briefs. She squeezes slightly and I lose my battle to keep my eyes firmly on her. Dear God, this girl is a _damn_ good lap dancer. I raise my hands towards her but she smacks them away, giving me a stern look. That's when I remember she used to do this thing for _tips._ She does the touching and _doesn't_ get touched. I try to keep from squirming under her.

I let out my breath in a _'whoosh'_ when the song ends. I smirk at her as it starts over. "If this had just been for tips, I'd be tucking a hundred dollar bill in your jeans and trying to find out if I could get more action in a private place," I tell her.

She smirks. During the course of the dance, I could smell her arousal growing so I'm not surprised by what she says. "Well, we're all alone here, what kind of action do you have in mind?" she asks, her voice thick with desire.

"Oh, something like this," I tell her, pulling her against me and crushing her lips with my own. She hums her approval of where this is going. I use my vampire abilities to reposition us so that I'm on my back beneath her on the couch and she's straddling my hips. I smirk up at her as she smiles at me. "I think there is one thing that is wrong with this picture," I tell her.

She chuckles and rises up so that she can slip my boxer-briefs down my legs. "That better?" she asks coyly.

"_Much_ better," I reply.

I'm already throbbing to be inside of her but I have to take it slow. This is only her second time, after all, no matter _how_ many times I sent her over the edge of pleasure two nights ago. I trail my right hand over her left thigh until I can stroke a finger over her wet, bleeding slit. I stroke the pad of my thumb over her clit and she throws her head back as a hiss of pleasure escapes through her teeth. The sight of her long, slender throat is enough to make my fangs slip free of my hold and appear, the veins around my eyes popping up prominently as the whites of my eyes dye red with blood. I don't bother hiding my vampire face from her when she lowers her head as I slip a single finger into that tight, slick warmth. I'm _proud_ to be a vampire. And I'm proud of Elena when she doesn't flinch or turn away when she sees that my vampire side has slipped out. Instead, she bends forward so that her hair is curtaining either side of my face. She trails her fingers gently over my vampire veins, her eyes alight with curiosity.

I smirk at her as I work at stretching her inner walls to more readily accommodate my rather large erection. At this point I have two fingers pumping and flexing inside of her. I decide I can add a third and do so. Soon I have her stretched as much as three fingers will allow for. I withdraw my fingers and lick them clean of menstrual blood and feminine juices one at a time, grinning as her arousal grows even more powerful as she watches me do so. I then place my hands on either side of her hips and lift her up and forward so I can slide her down onto my dick. We both hiss our satisfaction when the union is complete. She then lowers her mouth to mine, delving her tongue into my mouth to trail it delicately over my fangs. Okay, this one is _definitely_ a keeper. I have never had a lover in all the years since I turned into a vampire who would _willingly_ kiss me when my fangs were showing until now. Admittedly, the alcohol in her system has stripped away her inhibitions, but _still._

I gyrate my hips against hers and she moans into our kiss. All-too-soon, she has to break the kiss so she can get oxygen in her lungs. I use my vampire abilities to flip us over so that it's _her_ back that is pressed against the leather cushions and I'm carefully propped on top of her, using my arms and legs to keep most of my weight off of her. I wrap her legs around my hips one at a time so I can press further into her, far enough that my pelvic bone brushes against her clit. That elicits another satisfying moan of pleasure. I pull out as much as she allows me with her legs before rushing back in until my pelvic bone hits her clit again. Each time it does so, her gasping and mewling picks up a notch.

I vaguely hear an unfamiliar engine pull up the drive and stop followed by three car doors slamming. Three all-too-familiar voices pick up a conversation that was obviously taking place in Judgy's car. I tune them out. I don't mind an audience as I show Elena my exceptional skill in the bedroom. But I do morph my face back to that of the human I once was. When I thrust into Elena this time, I pause a moment to rotate my hips and am rewarded with a deliciously _loud_ moan.

Stefan

Just as I'm reaching for the doorknob of the front door to the boarding house, a loud feminine moan echoes from inside. I exchange startled looks with Bonnie and Caroline. Damon couldn't have brought Elena _here,_ could he?

Caroline

After getting caught by Damon and Elena while spying on them at the movies, Stefan, Bonnie, and I had gone to The Grill for dinner. Then Stefan invited Bonnie and me over to the boarding house so we could try to team up on Damon and demand answers in regards to his intentions with Elena. None of us had expected for Damon to bring her _here!_ That sure _sounded_ like Elena moaning in pleasure!

Bonnie

"Only one way to know for sure," I say softly.

Caroline and Stefan nod. Stefan takes a deep breath, twists the knob, and pushes the front door open. At first, it's hard to make out anything since the only source of light is the fire burning merrily in the living room hearth.

But then sweat glistening in the firelight as it rolls off two separate bodies writhing together on one of the couches near the fire catches my eyes. Then I just stare with my jaw dropped because naked Damon Salvatore glistening in sweat in the firelight is by far the sexiest thing I've ever seen.

Elena

When Damon morphed his face back to that of the human he once was, I knew we were about to have company. Even so, I don't try to push him off of me because he has me _so close_ to the edge. And besides, he's sparing me the embarrassment of having Stefan seeing _all_ of my completely naked body. Damon's next thrust into me is followed by a hip rotation that draws a very _loud_ moan from my throat. I think he wanted to alert Stefan and anyone with him that they are going to walk in on something they might not want to see.

Then the door opens. Due to the room being lit just by firelight, I know it takes them a few seconds to locate us. There's a long stretch of silence after they see us. Damon's resting on top of me at this point, smirking down at me.

Finally I hear Caroline say softly, "I wish all _my_ non-dates ended like that."

"That's _my_ couch," Stefan protests weakly.

I arch an eyebrow at Damon and he gives a small nod to signal that the couch we're on is indeed Stefan's favorite place to sit. "Take a picture, it will last longer," Damon calls to them as he rotates his hips slowly against mine, his pelvic bone rubbing deliciously against my clit. I moan my pleasure again.

Where Damon's words hadn't even fazed the three standing in the front door, my moan of pleasure jump starts them into remembering they're basically watching real live porn. Caroline and Bonnie hastily tell Stefan they'll see him tomorrow before fleeing back to Bonnie's car. It seems like only seconds pass before her tires squeal as she speeds back down the driveway. Stefan, meanwhile, had fled to the scant sanctuary of his room as soon as the girls had gotten too far away to make him out clearly.

Damon chuckles as he thrusts into me again. "Now, where were we?" he asks cheekily.

"You're an ass," I get out around my panting as my climax draws closer.

"You love my ass," he teases, his eyes twinkling in the firelight as he thrusts again.

I gasp as he hits a sweet spot. He grinds his hips against mine, stimulating that sweet spot and drawing a long, _loud_ moan out of me. I feel my inner walls fluttering around him while the pulsating in his dick is nearing fever pitch. When our simultaneous explosions hit, I throw my head back and cry out Damon's name while he groans mine as his seed spills into me, filling me. I vaguely wonder if it's possible for me to become pregnant with his kids but decide that now is _not_ the time to ask. Damon rests against me, taking care not to crush me with his weight. He buries his face in the crook where my left shoulder meets my neck and I trail my hands up to tangle them in his sweat-soaked silken hair. We stay like that while recovering from our exertions.

When we've both recovered our strength, Damon reluctantly pulls away. We both hiss at the loss when he pulls out of me. He carefully climbs off of me so that he's standing next to me with his hand held out to help me up. I put my hand in his and he pulls me up off the couch onto my feet so quickly that I stumble into him, my hands splaying across his firm chest. I scowl up at him and he chuckles. "Sorry," he says with out the least bit of repentance, his hands on my bare hips to steady me. "We should get dressed. I still have to get you home. Jenna's probably thinking I kidnapped you."

He strokes his right thumb over my birthmark as I steady myself. I step away and circle the coffee table to put my clothes back on. "They're never going to believe this wasn't a date now," I mutter, grabbing my panties off the couch and slipping into them.

"_You're_ the one who said it wasn't a date, not me," he points out as I grab my bra.

I glance over my shoulder to see he's already dressed and is thoroughly enjoying the show of me getting dressed. I turn my attention back to what I'm doing. I grab my skinny jeans and slide into them one leg at a time. "I didn't agree to a 'date'. I agreed to an evening together to build friendship," I tell him, pulling my jeans over my ass. "You said –"

"I said going to the movies and hanging out is what friends do. I _never_ said that's what this evening was going to be for me," he says dryly.

"So you _wanted_ to rub everyone's nose in the concept that we were on a date?" I ask, trying to figure out why I'm not as outraged as I should be. I pull my shirt over my head and settle it just right.

"You say that like I _planned_ on them following us. _I_ had planned for an intimate evening for two. _Not_ an intimate evening for two with three pests spying on us wherever we went. They threw a kink in my plans," he says.

"As if having an audience is ever anything but _kinky_ to you," I retort, turning to him with my arms crossed.

"There are times I like my privacy when I'm with a woman," he says mildly. His expression is anything _but_ mild as his eyes focus on my chest. I belatedly realize that crossing my arms _under_ my chest is _not_ a smart move when around someone as lecherous as Damon. I huff and drop my arms and he pretends to pout. "The least you could have done was _faced_ me while you got dressed," he teases.

"You already got your show while we were playing strip poker and again with the lap dance you made me give you when I lost the bet," I tell him. "If you wanted another, you'd have had to pay me for it."

"And what we were doing on the couch wasn't payment enough?" he asks, obviously highly amused.

"That was _sex_, pure and simple. I had enough of a buzz to get rid of my sensibilities. That combined with what happens when a guy and a girl play strip poker together and it resulted in _sex,"_ I tell him.

He almost flinches at my words. "I see my plan still has a ways to go before it reaches fruition," he says softly.

"What 'plan'?" I demand.

He gives me his best bedroom eyes again and I swear my knees turn to Jell-O. "It's simple, really. I plan on making you _mine_ for eternity," he says as if it were common knowledge.

"Dream on, hotshot," I tell him harshly. "Why would I become a vampire?"

"Elena, baby, the only way to be with a vampire successfully is to become one yourself. Otherwise the vampire is just spending your human life at your side and then moving on to someone new once you die. Because there is no way of knowing _for sure_ that the vampire will embrace final death once you take your last breath. The only way to be with someone forever is to _live_ forever. I just made it blatantly obvious that I want that with you. And because I know just how much you care about your brother, I'd even be willing to turn him so that you don't lose him to old age. Stefan would _never_ turn you, not even if you _begged_ him to. In my mind, that is the biggest sign of all that he doesn't want forever with you," Damon says. "And if you don't want forever with someone, it's just not worth the hassle of letting emotions get involved."

"That's _enough,_ Damon," Stefan's voice says coolly from the stairs.

I look over to see him glaring at his brother's back. "Just saying it like I see it, little brother," Damon says, not even glancing at his brother. He keeps his eyes on me. "C'mon, Elena, I'll take you home. Just think on what I said."

He wraps an arm around my shoulders to guide me outside. And even though I told myself I won't think about it, his words weigh heavily on my mind the entire ride home and are still there as I lie in my bed, clutching Teddy and staring at the ceiling with my alarm clock showing it's going on midnight. I have a feeling that his words will haunt me for a long time to come. And tonight is going to be the first of many long nights.


	4. Tarot, part 1

Unforeseen Consequences  
DG32173

Sarah: started this chapter while working on Chapter 3. I had to get the idea down while it was in I had it. This chapter starts with Elena's viewpoint. Also, you should know that I don't even own a tarot deck. Everything I learned about tarot reading and the cards I learned at a website a professional tarot reader made to teach people who want to learn how to read the Tarot. If you send me a PM, I'll give you the link to the website. Now I hope everyone enjoys. This chapter as well as the next two will be revolving around two separate Tarot readings.

_**NOTICE!**_  
This chapter takes place a week after the last chapter, in which Elena and Damon haven't been together intimately but their bond is growing stronger by the minute.

_**REVIEW REPLIES**_

_damon-elena-delena:_ you'll have to wait to find out the answer to your question, though a great big hint will appear in both this chapter and next chapter. Glad you enjoyed Damon and Elena's trip to the cinema.

_jairem:_ Oh, Elena is already falling for Damon. She's just reluctant to admit it. And, yes, those three were irritating, butting into Damon and Elena's time together like that.

_YAZMIN V:_ you're right: Damon is winning Elena's heart little-by-little. Glad you enjoyed.

_dyalli:_ so glad you enjoyed last chapter. You touched on a lot of scenes I thoroughly enjoyed writing. Here's the update.

_vampgurl97:_ I'm glad you love this story so much. Here's the new chapter.

Helen: so glad you are enjoying this. Here's the update.

_Lady Mythology:_ here's more!

_Delena is real:_ glad you enjoyed last chapter. Here's the new chapter.

_JMHUW:_ I have never seen _Coyote Ugly._ I think I need to remedy that, since I love a number of songs form the movie. Here's the next chapter. Enjoy.

* * *

Chapter 4  
Tarot, part 1

I look down at the worn wooden box in my hand with a sigh. They say it's unlucky to buy your own deck of Tarot cards, that they should be gifted to you by someone else. So the precious deck in this box is not for me to use. But it _is_ a gift to Sheila Bennett, Bonnie's grandmother. She's been like a grandmother to me as well. My grandparents had all died when I was very little. I'm hoping Grams will be willing to read my fortune with these cards. I don't know if she already has her own deck but it took a lot of careful wording on a variety of shopping sites on the internet to find this particular set. It had been in the seller's family since the Civil War and came from this very town. He swore up and down he had no use for the things, that they had been a curse on his family for nearly a century and a half, that'd he'd _give_ the deck and box to me free of charge if I'd take them from him and take the curse with them. I insisted on at least sending him the money to pay for shipping and handling to get it from his small town in Georgia to my home in Virginia. When he put this worn wooden box and the deck it contains in the mail, he called me, literally in tears from relief, thanking me profusely for taking the cursed things off his hands.

Only Sheila would know for sure if this really _is_ Emily Bennett's tarot deck, but I'm hoping all my hard work tracking it down won't go unrewarded. I sigh and climb out of my SUV, clutching the box close to my chest as I lock up before making my way up onto Sheila's porch. I ring the doorbell, sending up a silent prayer that Bonnie isn't here or at least doesn't answer the door. I send up a silent 'thank you' when it's Sheila who opens the door.

"Elena? What are you doing here?" she asks, opening the screen door to let me in.

I step around her into her home. "It took a lot of careful wording to find this," I tell her, holding out the box. "I don't know if my hunch is right or not, but the guy I got these from says they came into his family during the civil war from this very town. He said that they have been a curse on his family ever since and he was actually weeping with relief when he called me to thank me for taking them off his hands as soon as he put them in the mail."

"Elena, what are you talking about?" Sheila asks.

"I once heard you mention to Bonnie that your ancestress Emily Bennett's tarot deck had been confiscated when she was captured and burned. I thought I would try to track it down for you," I say softly. "I don't know if this _is_ her deck or not, but it took a lot of struggling to word my request just right when I placed up the ad on several different shopping sites. I didn't want to get offers from everyone and their cousin trying to convince me that the tarot deck they wanted to get rid of was the one I was looking for. As it was, I still had to sort through a _lot_ of offers before I found one that struck out at me and grabbed my attention. I negotiated contact with the guy and asked him the same questions several times over worded a little differently each time. When he kept up the story that it had come to his family during the Battle of Willow Creek of the Civil War, in the town of Mystic Falls, I got the notion that I might have found it. I asked more in-depth questions and he finally claimed that it must have belonged to some witch who put a curse on it when it was stolen from her because the deck and its box have cursed every member of his family who was in possession of it. He's been trying for _years_ to get rid of it but it would just reappear right back in his house even if he watched as someone took it out of his house. And when he asked the person why they had left it, they wouldn't know what he was talking about. So I told him that I might know the descendants of the original owner and if I'm right, then maybe the box and deck would come to me and leave him behind. He nearly burst into tears of joy at that. So he agreed to try to ship it to me. I tried to offer him money for it but he was so eager to get rid of it I had to tell him that I'll at _least_ reimburse him for the cost of mailing it to me and I wasn't taking no for an answer. As you can see, the box came to me. I opened it to make sure the deck was in it and it is. So my hunch that it once belonged to Emily is pretty strong. But only you will know for sure."

Sheila listens quietly as I explain how I got my hands on this worn, unadorned wooden box and the deck inside of it, a thoughtful frown on her lips. "And why would you try to hunt down Emily's Tarot deck in the first place?" she asks finally.

"I had two reasons motivating the hunt," I admit. "The first and most important  
was that I felt that it rightfully belongs to you as you are her descendant. It should be in your possession and then be passed on to Bonnie when you decide she is ready for it. The second reason, the reason why I brought it to you and not Bonnie, is that I want an unbiased reading using it. I'm torn, Grams," I confess. "I don't know what to do. I need guidance because I feel like I'm trying to navigate a maze of tightropes in the dark and blindfolded on top of that. If I had _some_ way to know at least what my options are, I might feel a little steadier."

Sheila studies me for a few moments before chuckling. "It's Damon, isn't it?" she asks.

I blush and look down at my shoelaces. "I _want_ to like him. I really do. He's smart, he's witty, he makes me laugh like I haven't since before my parents died … he's got so many good traits. But there's also this darkness in him. I can almost _feel_ it at times. And I'm scared of that part of him. Sometimes I wonder if I made the right choice in giving him a chance to redeem himself of his past. Sometimes I wonder if he is redeemable at all. But I know I can't voice that around him. I can tell he's trying so hard to prove that he's deserving of the chance I gave him. Voicing my doubts would be like a slap in the face to him after all the effort he's putting forward to prove he deserves my friendship. And then there's the part where I know he's determined to win so much more than just friendship from me. I have never seen someone so obsessed with winning my heart. At times it's just as frightening as that darkness in him. He hasn't done anything to show his obsession with me overtly since the day after I told him I'd give him a chance at being my friend. But I've grown to know him very well and I can see all the subtle signs that he's fighting to keep from acting like a possessive boyfriend when we're barely friends. And sometimes he loses that fight and shows just how possessive he is of me. I really don't know what to do about him. I was hoping I could get at least some guidance or something from a tarot reading. And Bonnie's too biased to do it properly."

Sheila nods. She lays a hand on the box of Tarot cards I'm offering her. "Well, you are right about this being Emily's Tarot deck," she says after a moment, taking the box from me. "And they came to me through you for the very reason you looked for them. Let us find out what the cards have to say about you. Come with me."

I obediently follow Sheila into the kitchen she motions for me to have a seat at the table. I do so while she pulls a heavy curtain over the kitchen window, completely blocking out the sunlight that was pouring in. She does the same with a curtain over the doorway we entered through, leaving the kitchen completely dark. But only for a moment because she then uses her magic to light the various candles around the room. Sheila then takes a seat across the small table from me and removes the Tarot cards from their box. She cups them in one hand and places her other hand on top, closing her eyes. "Emily, give us the guidance Elena so desperately needs," she says softly. "Please guide her on what her options are at this time."

Now she opens her eyes and begins a form of card shuffling I have never seen before. She holds them facedown in her right hand and uses her right thumb to push a few of the cards from the top of the deck into her left hand. Then she pushes a few from the bottom of the deck onto the new stack in her left hand with her right thumb. She keeps this pattern up until the whole deck is shuffled. Then she puts it back into her right hand for a repeat.

Then she places the tarot deck in front of me, the short side closest to me. "Cut the cards as I say," she instructs. I nod. "Take a few of the cards and put them in a smaller pile to the left of the deck." I do so. "Now take a few of the cards from this new pile and place it in another pile to the left of that pile." I do so. She then sweeps the cards back into one pile with her left hand bracing the main deck and her right hand pushing the smaller piles I made into it. She then deals out one card at a time in what I quickly recognize as the Celtic cross formation mentioned in my research. I try to recognize the cards as she lays them down, but I have never seen _these_ particular portraits in my studies. But there is _one_ I recognize without a doubt that is in the fifth position: Death. I bite my lower lip. I didn't really take the time to _memorize_ the meanings of all the cards but I'm not sure I like _that_ card appearing in answer to my seeking guidance. Once the tenth card is placed down, Sheila puts the rest of the cards back in their box and studies the cards on the table. "The cards have given quite the interesting response to your request for guidance," she admits finally. "I have never had this particular reading before."

"What does it say?" I ask softly.

She lifts the second card she laid down slightly to tap the first card. "This is the High Priestess. She represents potential. You truly are at a crossroads, Elena. You have great potential at this point." She puts the second card back in place. "This is the Moon tarot. It can represent many things but in this instance it is in the position opposing yours. And it represents fear. Your fear of this crossroads you are at is making you resist the changes in your life." She then taps the third card. "This is the Devil tarot. He is in the position that signals source of your problem."

"So Damon's my problem?" I tease.

She gives me a stern look. I duck my head in shame. "Ignorance and hopelessness are holding you back, Elena," she corrects. "You don't understand what is going on around you and you feel hopeless about ever understanding it. You can't let your lack of knowledge continue to hold you back from life." She taps the fourth card. "This is the Three of Swords."

"Are those swords piercing a heart?" I ask softly.

"This tarot is in the position that marks your past. The Three of Swords represents heartache, loneliness, and betrayal. In your case, it primarily represents that your loneliness is quickly coming to an end," she says. She points to the Death tarot.

"Death," I whisper.

"The Death tarot is one possible future you have. But he doesn't necessarily mean you will die. For you, he represents a status change that will take you from that which you know to that which you don't know. But you shouldn't be afraid. He could represent any number of changes in your life." She points to the sixth card. "This position is typically related to the last in some way. You are looking at the Empress." She frowns. "I'll admit that her appearance in this spot for the reason she appeared for has me quite perplexed."

"What does she mean?" I ask.

"The Empress can be of many qualities but for you she represents motherhood is coming upon you," she says.

I frown. "But how is that possible? I was only with …," I start but cut myself off.

"Bonnie informed me of your liaison with Damon that rid you of your virginity, Elena, as well as your second liaison with him which she had stumbled in on," she says, smiling.

I sigh. "I don't understand this," I say plaintively.

"I know. But the cards view time in a different way than we do," she says. "Their definition of 'soon' could be very different from ours. Let's not jump to any conclusions at this point." She points at the seventh tarot. "This is another representation of you, but this time as you see yourself. This tarot is the Seven of Swords. With it appearing in this position, I can tell that you feel like you are running away from something. What that is, I do not know. Nor do I want to. It is up to you to figure that much out and figure out _why_ you are running from it and if your reasons are good enough." She points to the next card, the one above it. "This tarot represents someone else's view of you. This is the Queen of Cups, meaning that they see you as loving, intuitive, and tenderhearted." She lays a finger on the card. "I can sense that the one with this view is male and cares more about you than he wants to admit even to himself." She lifts her finger from the card. She passes the ninth card and moves on to the tenth. "This card is another possible future of yours. The Five of Cups bears a grim fortune: it represents suffering a loss, feeling bereft, and feeling regret. Death and the Five of Cups represent the most likely outcomes of whatever choice it is you must make. Personally speaking, I would rather face the unknown that Death foretells than losing something and regretting it as the Five of Cups foretells."

"What's the ninth tarot?" I ask. "You passed it."

"The ninth tarot is your guiding clue. The Lovers tarot has taken that position." I blush. "They represent relationships and sexuality for your reading. The cards are telling you to follow your heart into the romantic relationship that is just right for you. Face the unknown and don't be afraid. You have great potential to change someone's life as well as your own for the better. Don't let your ignorance give way to hopelessness and bar the road to happiness. Your life isn't the only one at stake on the choice you must make. While one road leads to a change into the unknown the other will only lead to losing someone precious and regretting it for the rest of your life." She sighs. "That is all the cards will tell me."

I nod. "I think that is more than enough to help guide me," I tell her, rising from my chair. "I already have too many regrets in my life. I don't want even one more. Even though facing the unknown is scary, I'd rather face it than gain another lifelong regret. Thanks, Grams."

"You're welcome child. Tell Damon that he had better keep on his best behavior or he will face my wrath. I'm not happy with all the turmoil he's put my town through in just the few months he's been here."

"Nor am I, Grams," I assure her. "Though I think he's a bit more afraid of losing me than of facing your wrath. I did warn him he is not getting any second chances if he screws up the one I gave him."

She chuckles. "I think you're right about that," she admits. "Take care. I will do what I can to talk Bonnie into a gentler frame of mind in regards to him, but she is very judgmental."

I roll my eyes. "Hence Damon nicknaming her 'Judgy'," I tell her. I check my watch. "Anyways, I have to go. Damon said he'd tutor me in history, having lived so much of it himself. He's probably already waiting for me at The Grill. He likes being early to things. I told him I had to make a stop after school. He wanted to join me up until I told him I was coming here. I need to get going or I'm never going to hear the end of it. Later, Grams."

"Goodbye, Elena," she says.

I make my way out of Sheila's house with a full-blown grin on my lips for the first time since my parents died. That reading has helped me out a great deal. I'm just a little concerned about what the Empress symbolizing motherhood means, but I won't worry about that now. I need to get to The Grill before Damon loses too much patience and hunts me down.


	5. Tarot, part 2

Unforeseen Consequences  
DG32173

Sarah: here is the second of the three Tarot chapters, the fifth chapter of the overall story. I hope everyone enjoys what I will share about _Damon's_ tarot reading. This chapter will be from both Damon's perspective _and_ Bonnie's. By the way, Winds of Fate, Winds of Change, and Winds of Fury were stolen from the a trilogy of books I love, but only insofar as the titles. Those titles belong to the talented fantasy writer Mercedes Lackey. Their magical properties are all mine.

_**NOTICE!**_  
This chapter takes place the day following last chapter.

_**REVIEW REPLIES**_

_damon-elena-delena:_ you make me blush with all the praise. Here's the next chapter.

_jairem:_ in the beginning author note of last chapter I said that I had to do a bunch of research to get the Tarot chapters out as I don't own a Tarot deck. The three Tarot chapters are a big turning point in Damon and Elena's relationship as well as Elena's relationship with Stefan. This chapter is going to play a big role in altering Bonnie's view of Damon and Elena from here on. Enjoy.

_kfulmer7:_ in regards to your review of chapter 3, making bets will be a big part of Damon and Elena's relationship as they like to compete with each other. There will be plenty more Delena time, so don't worry. As for your review of chapter 4, there are still two more plot-twisting chapters, counting this one, before the show _really_ gets on the road. Here's more.

_stordec23:_ I'm glad! Here's the new chapter.

_YAZMIN V:_ Glad you enjoyed last chapter so much. Here's the next chapter.

_dyalli:_ glad you liked the tarot reading. This chapter, it's Damon's turn to find out what the cards have to say. Enjoy.

_vampgurl97:_ glad you enjoyed the Elena's tarot reading. Here's Damon's.

_rcardinals4:_ I'm having difficulty coming up with muse for the next chapter of _For Lack of a Better Name._ It's a transit chapter considering both Damon and Elena are awake most of the drive from Austin, Texas, to Las Vegas, Nevada. I can't go skipping too much time frame on that one, not with Elena having so many needs that must be satisfied during the trip. As for your review of chapter 4, I'm glad you enjoyed it.

_meigs37:_ yep, go Damon indeed.

_Leeginger:_ glad you love this story so far. Here's chapter 5.

* * *

Chapter 5  
Tarot, part 2

I frown when my phone lets out the ringtone that signals I don't have the caller on my contacts list. I pull my phone out of my back pocket and look at the caller ID. I scowl when I recognize the number: Sheila Bennett. And I don't dare try to ignore it. I sigh and hit answer. "What?" I demand, taking a sip from my glass of bourbon. "I thought we agreed to steer clear of each other unless we had no other choice."

"_So we did,"_ she acknowledges. _"But this is one of those times we don't have a choice. I need you to come to my house."_

"Look, Sheila, while I'd normally be happy to land myself an invite to your place, it's nearly time for school to let out and I happen to have promised a certain someone I'd pick her up so we could go bowling."

"_Elena will understand if you tell her I had summoned you,"_ she replies. _"Don't push me, Damon. My powers have grown since you were last in Mystic Falls."_

"Yeah, well, I don't want to piss her off, Sheila. She said she's only giving me one shot and I know damn well she meant every damn word of it," I reply. "And you're not the only one whose powers grow stronger over time."

I hang up on her, finish my glass of bourbon, and make for the front door. I spent the school hours cleaning the boarding house since Stefan won't let me hire a cleaning lady because he thinks I'll snack on her. Seriously, what is _wrong_ with my brother? What sane vampire snacks on _cleaning ladies?_ All those chemicals and stuff they work with can't be good for the blood. And I, for one, don't drink nasty blood unless I have no other options.

Trouble finds me as soon as I pull my Camaro onto the road leading into town. And by trouble I mean someone magically taking control of my body and making me drive where _they_ want me to go. And I know damn well who it is: Sheila. Oh, that witch is going to _wish_ she hadn't used her powers like this. I'm not going to kill her. That would be much too quick. But she had better watch her back from here on. I don't take kindly to someone manipulating me. As it is, though, I have no choice but to let her magically drive me to her place and fume the whole damn way. I made a deal with Emily to make sure her bloodline survived. I not only did that, I even went a step further and made it _flourish._ And one after another, her descendants have used their powers on me for one reason or another. Hell, I even gave _up_ on opening the tomb! And I am _still_ playing magical pawn to the Bennett family.

By the time Sheila has me mounting the steps to her front porch, I'm about ready to blow. As I am forced to approach the front door, both the screen and the door swing open seemingly on their own. "Come in, Damon," Sheila calls.

She still doesn't release control of my body. In a few seconds, I'm seated across the kitchen table from the old witch. "Sheila, what the _hell_ do you think you're doing?" I demand crossly. At least my mouth is under my own control.

"I was asked to perform a special Tarot reading yesterday," she says mildly, shuffling an ancient deck of Tarot cards. Something about the deck and the worn wooden box sitting on the table to her left tugs at a memory I had left behind decades ago. But I can't quite recall what that memory is. "Something odd had occurred in that reading so I want to perform your Tarot reading to see if a similar oddity occurs."

I frown. "Elena came here yesterday," I say slowly.

"I will not discuss her reading with you. If she wants you to know, then she will tell you in her own time," she replies.

I groan. "Fine, have your secrets," I grumble.

The old witch slides the tarot deck across the table to me and her magic releases my arms but not the rest of my body. "Cut the deck. I'm sure you know how," she says.

I sigh. It's been a very long time since I last sat down for a Tarot reading but I still remember the proper way to cut the deck. Once I do, Sheila sweeps the cards back into one pile and begins laying them down in the Celtic cross. When the Emperor is the sixth card laid down, she purses her lips but continues laying out the other four cards before setting the deck to the side. She studies the cards closely; reading whatever it is they have to say about me. "Okay, witch, what do they have to say?" I ask.

She lifts up the second tarot she had placed and taps the first. "The Knight of Swords represents you in this very instant: direct to the point of being blunt, authoritative to the point of being overbearing at times, so incisive it's cutting, knowledgeable but opinionated, logical and unfeeling," she says.

"Sounds about right," I agree.

"That is who you are now. But you are at a crossroads, Damon," she says. I frown, not liking the sound of that. She lowers the tarot in her hand back in place. "The Hanged Man is making you reluctant."

"And the Hanged Man symbolizes?" I ask.

"For you, he represents letting go, whether it be of an object, a person, or simply of control. You are extremely reluctant to let go of something, because you feel like it would be sacrificing a part of who you are." I grimace. "I don't know what it is you don't want to let go of, but it is holding you back in the journey Fate has in store for you." she taps the third card. "Barring your path, though, is the Moon."

"Uh, hello? _Vampire,"_ I remind her. "My kind is naturally _most_ active at night."

"The Moon Tarot doesn't represent nighttime, Damon. For you, the Moon represents fear. That in combination with the Hanged Man tells me you are not only _reluctant_ to let go of something but you are actually _afraid_ of letting it go. Fear is blocking your path, Damon. To move forward you have to face your fear and let go of whatever it is you are holding onto," she says. She taps the next Tarot. "The Seven of Swords is leaving you, moving into your past. You are a lone wolf, Damon. But that is becoming a part of your past." I frown. I have no idea where this is heading, but I'm not sure I like it. She moves on to the fifth Tarot. "One of the paths leading from this crossroads you are on is marked by the Lovers. They represent relationships, particularly of the lasting kind, as well as sexuality." Before I can comment on that, she taps the sixth Tarot. "The Emperor as a part of the future the Lovers represent puzzles me," she admits. "He comes representing fatherhood, which we both know you are physically incapable of."

"Damn right about that," I remark dryly.

"And yet he appears for you in that aspect," Sheila says. She then touches the seventh Tarot. "The Knight of Wands is how you see yourself: charming, superficial at times, self-confident to the point of growing cocky, daring, adventurous, restless, passionate, and hot-tempered," she says. I nod my agreement. She lays her finger on the eighth Tarot. "But a young woman in your life views you as the King of Wands: creative, inspiring, forceful at times, charismatic, and bold." I find my eyebrows rising in surprise. Sheila bypasses the ninth Tarot in favor of the tenth. "The other route your future could take is the Three of Swords: heartbreak. If you don't let go of whatever you are afraid of sacrificing, this is the path you will end up walking, Damon. Only if you let go of what you are holding onto so tightly will you be able to take the path of the Lovers and potentially the Emperor. Strong, lasting relationships and potentially even fatherhood could be yours if you just _let go_ of what you are holding onto so tightly."

"And the ninth Tarot?" I ask softly.

"The ninth Tarot is your guide to the path of the Lovers and the Emperor and it is the Ace of Cups. For you, it represents intimacy and love. Those are the keys to the future you want, the future full of relationships and potentially fatherhood. Without _both_ of them, you will only be able to travel the road of heartbreak," she says, releasing the spell that was holding most of my body under her control.

I take a deep breath and slowly get to my feet. "This has actually been rather enlightening, Sheila," I admit. "You take care. I'm late for picking up Elena. She's not going to be happy about that."

"Tell her I summoned you and that you couldn't fight it," Sheila says, a smirk on her lips and a wicked twinkle in her eyes.

"I will most _certainly_ let her know who's to blame for my tardiness," I reply with a grin. "And I might even tell her _why_ I couldn't fight it. Then she'll be after _your_ hide and not mine."

"Take care, Damon. And tell Elena I said 'hello'," she says, carefully gathering up her Tarot cards.

I take that as my cue to make good with my escape. As I'm walking out the screen door, Bonnie pulls into the drive. She slowly climbs out of her car, watching me with confusion written all over her face. I chuckle. "Judgy," I greet as I climb into the driver's seat of my Camaro. "Just had a friendly visit with your grandmother. Now, I'm running behind. Ciao."

With that, I start the engine of my car and pull out of the driveway.

**Bonnie**

I watch as Damon pulls out of my driveway, my heart in my throat. Then I drop my things and race inside. "GRAMS!" I scream, terrified of what he must have done to my grandmother. I mean, she'd _never_ give him an invitation, right? _"GRAMS!"_

"Calm down, child," Grams' voice comes from the kitchen. I rush in there to see her studying two Tarot cards. I sag with relief to see that she's alright. I open my mouth to speak, but she cuts me off. "I cannot discuss Damon with you. But I _will_ tell you that I had to use my powers to bring him here for something important."

"But, Grams, you have all these _rules_ about dealing with vampires, the first of which is to _never_ invite them into your home," I protest.

"Damon can be trusted," she says. I feel my jaw dropping. "Elena has strong influence over him, making him think long and hard over each action before he makes it. He would never do something that would betray the trust in him that he is nourishing in her. But their threads on the Tapestry of Time are even more entwined than I had realized."

"What do you mean?" I ask, slowly stepping towards her.

She places the two Tarot cards face-up on the table. "What do you see when you look at these two cards, Bonnie?" she asks.

I examine them. "I see the Empress and the Emperor. What does this have to do with Elena and Damon?" I ask.

"These Tarots are from Emily's deck. Elena somehow tracked it down and brought it to me yesterday. Emily's deck is ancient, spanning the course of many centuries. They have been used by the witches of our family for countless generations up until they were taken from Emily before she was burned. Now they have returned to our family. These cards are alive with magic. Take a closer look. Use the trick I taught you yesterday," she says.

I examine the two cards again, performing the trick she had taught me to look with my Inner Eye rather than my physical eyes. Suddenly, in the place of the Empress is Elena holding a sleeping infant while smiling down at it and in the place of the Emperor is Damon, looking over at the Empress Tarot with deep, _paternal_ pride. I gasp and lose the focus, causing the cards to take on the pictures most people see on them. "But no vampire has _ever_ had a child after they were turned," I protest.

"Both the Winds of Fate _and_ the Winds of Change are beginning to blow, Bonnie. I have told you what they signal many times," she replies softly.

I feel a chill run down my spine. The sister winds blown by Fate, the Winds of Fate and the Winds of Change only begin to blow when extraordinary events are about to occur. And they normally blow at separate times because they each alter the world so much on their own. But for them to blow together … well, Grams says that according to the spirits, the _last_ time they blew at the same time was when the vampire race was created. That was more than a thousand years ago. And the time before that was when the Lycanthrope gene was cursed onto certain families. And the one before _that_ was when the first witch was born. "Is a new race being born?" I whisper fearfully.

"I don't know, child. But whatever is coming, Elena and Damon are at the heart of it. But you mustn't try to separate them!" she warns fiercely when I start planning on doing just that. I look at her in shock. "As terribly powerful as the Winds of Fate and Change are, their _third_ sister, the Winds of Fury, is far more terrible and far less good. _Those_ Winds haven't been seen in thousands of years. Entire races the world has long forgotten were once real were wiped out all at once for just a handful of individuals of each race trying to defy what Fate had decreed. You wouldn't want to risk another such occurrence. Particularly not when witches play the role of balancing the supernatural with the natural."

I shudder. "No, I wouldn't," I agree. I sigh. "We can't even tell them, can we?" I ask.

"The Cards have given them the knowledge they need to know right now. If they _are_ having a child, leave it for a pregnancy test to tell them that," she says, her eyes twinkling wickedly. "You mustn't let them suspect you know _anything._ Keep treating them both as you have been. If you feel you can't keep up the act, make your change of feelings appear gradual rather than sudden."

* * *

Sarah: yeah, well, you've got some hints as to what's to come. Now it's all up to a pregnancy test for us to be sure! But that won't come for several chapters.


	6. Tarot, part 3

Unforeseen Consequences  
DG32173

Sarah: here's the third part of the three Tarot chapters, which is also chapter 6. Here are the review replies and the chapter. Enjoy. Starts with Damon.

_**NOTICE!**_  
This chapter picks up where last chapter left off with Damon. Thought you should know.

_**REVIEW REPLIES**_

_HelloKarta:_ I'm glad you love it! Here's more!

_stordec23:_ I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter.

_YAZMIN V:_ thank you!

_damon-elena-delena:_ you're going to make me blush with all this praise! Here's the update.

_jairem:_ thank you so much for the praise! Here's the update.

Guest of chapter 5: I wish you had left a name for me to call you by. It's rude to call someone the generic name of Guest, in my opinion. Glad you were able to put aside your dislike of Tarot cards in favor of supporting this fanfic. And no, this will _NOT_ be at all Twilight-like. We have my trusty beta to guarantee that much. He's threatened to disown me if I do that. As for requests for more sex, you're in luck: I plan for a great deal more of that lovely kind of scene to come.

_vampgurl97:_ we'll have to wait for the pregnancy test to come back. Here's the new chapter.

_dyalli:_ glad you think I'm keeping it interesting. I try my best. Here's the update.

_rcardinals4:_ a whole lot more than just sharing their tarot readings will have to happen before they _officially_ get together. Such as the whole Elena-the-doppelganger issue coming to light in this chapter. Enjoy

_PattyFleur87:_ thanks for the praise! You'll find out what the Tarot readings mean as the story progresses. Here's more.

_Littlemissartsi:_ glad you enjoyed the story. Here's the update.

_kfulmer7:_ yeah, I thought making Sheila magically take over Damon's body to make him come for the reading was funny. Here's the next chapter.

_Leeginger:_ I'm glad you have enjoyed the story so far. Here's the update, finally.

A girl: sorry about the delay in updates but here is the next chapter at long last.

* * *

Chapter 6  
Tarot, part 3

Right as I pull onto the road, my phone starts playing _"Born to be My Baby"_ by Bon Jovi. I free one hand from the wheel to pull it out of my back pocket. I hit accept and put it to my ear. "I know you're mad that I'm late, but Sheila decided that I just _had_ to pay her a visit so she worked her witchy mojo on me and I couldn't fight it," I tell Elena. "And I mean all of that both seriously _and_ literally."

She huffs. _"Yeah, well, how long are you going to be before you get here? I'm already looking like a fool waiting for my ride to show,"_ she says.

"I'll be there in five minutes, give or take a traffic light or stop sign," I reply. "And I know we planned on going bowling, but what Sheila wanted to talk about has caused plans to take a sudden shift. We'll go bowling tomorrow, I promise. This afternoon, I have to take you somewhere where we can have a private conversation with no prying eyes or ears. I'm taking you to where it all began."

"_Where _what_ all began?"_ she demands.

"I'm taking you on a tour of the old Salvatore estate, the home Stefan and I had in 1864. We need to talk about some things that you need to know about but both Stefan and I have been reluctant to share," I tell her.

"_Wait, is Stefan with you?"_ she asks.

"Nope," I say, popping the 'P'. "He would be pitching a fit if he knew I had decided to share this with you."

"_Why would he pitch a fit?"_ she asks softly.

"Because this is the bombshell that's been hanging over all our heads since Stefan and I first met you. And that's all I'm going to say until I can walk you through what happened in 1864. Stefan's probably going to kill me for telling you but you have every right to know and we had no right keeping it from you for this long."

"_Damon, what are you talking about? What bombshell? What haven't you told me that I should know?"_ she asks.

"I'll be there in two minutes. Be prepared to hop in and buckle up. This afternoon is going to turn pretty damn grim once you find out." With that, I hang up on her for the first time ever. I stuff my phone back into my back pocket.

Two minutes later, I pull into the high school's parking lot to see Elena is quite ready to breathe fire down on me. "I can't believe you hung up on me!" she exclaims as she climbs into the passenger seat and buckles up.

"I can't believe you didn't try to call back," I retort, though my usual good cheer is not present. I turn around in the nearly empty parking lot and drive back out onto the road. I turn the Camaro in the direction that will take it towards the grown-over dirt road that leads to the old Salvatore estate.

I catch her frown out of the corner of my eye. "Damon, what is it that you want to tell me?" she asks.

"If I tell you _now,_ you'll probably do something stupid like try to jump out of the Camaro while I'm driving," I tell her seriously. "I'll explain _everything_ when we get to the old estate."

**Elena**

My frown deepens. Whatever Damon is going to tell me, it's even more important, more _earth-shattering,_ than I had thought. I make myself as comfortable as I can given the cold, hard knot my stomach has suddenly tied itself into. I have a feeling that what he's about to share with me is going to change _everything._ I take a slow, deep breath to try to steady my nerves. But it doesn't help because I have never seen Damon this tense and he hasn't even _looked_ at me since he picked me up. The only thing I know for sure is that this has something to do with both Katherine and what Sheila wanted to talk to Damon about.

The drive through town is made in silence. But not the comfortable silence that I had grown accustomed to being able to share with Damon. No, this silence is tense and it has my nerves on edge. When Damon turns onto a heavily grown-over trail that I hadn't even seen for all the foliage that had sprouted up in it, he speaks. "This trail we're on used to be wide enough for two carriages to pass each other in opposing directions with room to spare. It's all that is left of the drive that once led from the dirt road passing the old Salvatore estate to the main house," he says. "We'll break out into the clearing where the courtyard used to be in a minute or so."

"I've been here once before," I tell him. He glances at me with a raised eyebrow before turning his eyes back to the nearly indiscernible road we're on. "Stefan brought me here when he was getting your daylight ring from where he had hidden it under a fallen pillar."

He smirks. "Good to know," he remarks dryly.

We're silent until after Damon's parked the Camaro a good ten yards from the entrance of the ruins. Even though I've already been here once before, the sheer majesty of what the ruins must have looked like in their prime is enough to take my breath away. I wait for Damon's cue and climb out when he does. I half-expect him to lead me inside the ruins but he doesn't. Instead, he seems to be getting his bearings on the landscape.

"So much has changed since I was last here," he says softly.

"When was that?" I ask curiously.

"I haven't been back to this particular piece of property since I struck the match that set it to flames to cover Stefan's tracks back in 1864," he replies.

"What do you mean, 'cover Stefan's tracks'?" I ask. "I thought he was on animal blood."

"He is _now._ That's not always been the case," he replies. "Aha!" he says gleefully upon spotting some landmark recognizable only to him. "C'mon, this way," he says, heading off toward the west.

I frown but force myself to keep up. "We're not going inside?" I ask when it becomes apparent that the route Damon has us on circles the western edge of the ruins without getting any closer than we were at the Camaro.

Damon shakes his head. "Not much to see," he says tersely. "Besides, I highly doubt that the support beams in the walls are all that sound. I'd rather not be inside if any were to give out."

"So, where _are_ we going?" I ask as we enter the forest on the far side of the ruins from the Camaro.

"If it's still there, I'm taking you to a place I haven't taken anyone else," he says. "Not even Stefan knows about this place."

"Why are you taking me, then?" I ask as he pushes aside a veil of thorny vines for me to pass.

"Maybe because I want to share it with you," he says, following me past the vines before taking the lead again. I watch in amusement as the scratches he had gotten from thorns heal right before my eyes. "My mother brought me out here a lot when she was still alive."

"Oh?" I ask, knowing instinctively that his mother is a very touchy subject for Damon. I have to tread carefully to get any information on the subject or I'm likely to push him away completely. "What was she like?" I ask, deciding to focus on what she was alike when she was alive rather than find out how she died.

"She was amazing," he replies. "She was smart, passionate, and sweet. She absolutely _loved_ cooking. Every second she could spare, she was in the kitchen whipping up a new dish for us to try. I was the only one given the privilege to learn all her recipes, though I was only seven when she died. There were only a few things of hers that she made sure I got before she died because there was no way in _hell_ Father would have permitted me to keep them if he knew they were in my possession. I was always very low on the totem pole when it came to the value Father placed on the people in his life. Remarkable thing is that Mother was right at the top and I was once told during my teenage years that I looked just like she had when she had been the age I was then."

"So you take after your mom?" I ask.

"That's putting it mildly," he replies, but doesn't explain what he means by that.

I decide a little bravery is called for if I want my answers. "You said you were seven when she died?" I ask hesitantly.

"In the middle of the nineteenth century _many_ women died in childbirth," he replies.

"Oh," I say softly. "So you're seven years older than Stefan?"

"Yep," he says, popping the 'p'.

I decide a subject change is in order. "So how long before we get to wherever it is you're taking me?" I ask.

"We're almost there," he replies. He flashes a smirk at me. "Why? Getting tired?"

"Nope. Just curious," I reply.

We make our way through the woods in silence for the next fifteen minutes before a clearing suddenly opens up in front of us. The clearing is full of gorgeous wildflowers with a small brook trickling through the middle of it. The water in the brook is as clear as crystal. "Woah," I breathe.

"Look over there," Damon says softly, pointing to the far side of the clearing.

When I see what he's pointing at, my jaw drops. Seemingly completely oblivious to us is a large herd of deer, the stag standing sentry while the does graze peacefully. "Why aren't they running?" I whisper.

"This part of the forest doesn't see any hunters so they don't know to be afraid of us," he replies quietly. "Now, if we were to try to get closer, they _would_ bolt because they know it's better to run and live than take a chance and accidentally let a predator get close enough for a kill. So long as we keep our distance, they will continue to graze until the stag decides it's time for them to move on. Look at his antlers. See how big they are?"

"Yeah, what about them?" I ask softly.

"The bigger a stag's antlers are, the more powerful he is seen to be by the does. That guy is probably the king stag of this section of the forest. And I'm not just saying that because of how massive his antlers are. He's got more than fifteen does to himself. To be able to keep that many ladies all for himself proves that he can easily handle the stags who tried to compete with him for their attention."

"You do realize that trying to distract me with a herd of deer and a pretty clearing isn't going to keep me from wondering why you decided to change our plans from bowling to coming here, right?" I point out.

He sighs and leans against a nearby tree. "I know," he says. "Get comfortable. This is going to take a while."

I look around and decide to sit down on a fallen log where I can watch Damon closely as he speaks. "From the clues you dropped earlier, I feel safe in assuming you've decided to share with me some big secret you and Stefan have been keeping from me. And I also feel safe in assuming that secret has something to do with Katherine," I say.

"You're right on both assumptions," he concedes. "First, I want to know what you've put together for yourself about her. I'll correct you if you get something wrong and then I'll fill in what you don't know."

I frown thoughtfully as I think back on everything I've learned from the brothers about their sire. "Well, I know you both loved her greatly," I say. "Stefan seems to think that she compelled both of you to love her but I don't think that was the case for you. From what I understand, becoming a vampire releases you from any compulsions that a vampire has placed on you. Am I right?"

"Right so far," he admits.

"I asked you once who was with her first and you said that Stefan's answer would differ from yours. So I'm thinking that you were with her first but in secret, which is why Stefan didn't know he was moving in on your girl," I say. He nods. "You told me she was beautiful. But you also said she was selfish and cruel. I'm guessing you felt that her beauty made up for her faults." He nods again. "But in the past week and a half, I've noticed that your feelings seem to have changed in regards to her." He grimaces but nods. "Is it because of me?" I ask softly.

"For nearly a century and a half, I've felt like I was walking around in a trance," he admits. "Meeting you, getting to know you … that started waking me up from that trance. For a hundred and forty-five years, I had one goal in mind. You should know the truth: Katherine isn't actually dead. Not in the sense that you thought she was."

I freeze, my heart pounding in my chest. "What do you mean?" I ask softly.

"Shortly after Stefan forced me to complete the transition into vampirism, Emily Bennett came to me and told me that the church fire _hadn't_ killed even one of the twenty-seven vampires that had been captured that night. Emily had used her magic and a passing comet to save them. But in doing so, she had to seal them into the tomb below the church. She told me there was a way to reverse the spell, but I would have to wait for the comet to return to earth again. She made me a deal: I protect her lineage and she'll help me open the tomb when the comet came again," he says. "Up until recently, my entire vampire life was focused single-mindedly on that goal. Then you entered my life."

I frown. I had been waiting for him to say he was just using me as a way to pass the time until he could have Katherine. But that last sentence gives me the faintest touch of hope that maybe that won't be the case. "What do you mean?" I ask.

"There's one other subject I haven't been entirely honest with you about," he says. "May 23rd, you were at a party in the woods. You got in a fight with your boyfriend about his vision for the future of you two. You didn't know what you wanted but you knew that wasn't it. You had this huge fight with him over it and stormed off, calling your parents to pick you up. Then you called Judgy to tell her she and your mom were both right about something."

I feel like my blood has turned to ice water. "What are you saying, Damon?" I ask shakily.

"Right after you hung up with Judgy, you have a blank spot in your memory up until your parents arrived," he says.

"You're behind that, aren't you?" I whisper.

"We met, we talked, and just before your parents arrived, I compelled you to forget because I couldn't have Zach or Stefan finding out I was back yet."

"Are you going to give me the memory back?" I ask softly.

"There's still more I must tell you before I do that," he replies.

"What more is there to tell?" I ask.

"There are two more things you need to know," he says. "The more important of the two things is why I brought you out here. But before I say anything on that, let me continue what I was saying a few minutes ago. For nearly a hundred and forty-five years, I had one goal in mind: free Katherine. Then I met you. And the reasons for that goal started to get blurry as I grew to know you. And after that night in your bed, I could no longer find any reason for the goal I had spent my entire vampire life focused on but I could find plenty of reasons to keep the tomb sealed shut. And the irony of it is found in the biggest secret Stefan and I have kept from you."

"What is that secret?" I ask.

He looks directly in my eyes. "Elena, when I said that her beauty is a lot like yours, I wasn't just implying that you're both beautiful," he says softly. "When I first laid eyes on you, I mistook you for her because you could easily pass for her twin."

I reel back, taking his words as if they were physical blows. Tears fill my eyes as I try to keep from breaking down. In the next second, I feel Damon's arms around me, holding me to his chest. I struggle against him but he uses his superior strength to keep me still.

"Elena, you need to listen to me," he says forcefully. "When I look at you, all I see is Elena Gilbert, a kind, compassionate, amazing young woman who is as different from Katherine Pierce as night is from day. I said you could pass for her twin. I did _not_ say that you could pass for _her._ There are a lot of subtle physical differences between you and Katherine as well as one major one in the form of your birthmark. Katherine doesn't have a birthmark. As for personality, you are a _much_ better person than she ever could have been. And given the choice, I'd take you over her every single time. Now, use your head. You know me. Would I _really_ be telling you all of this if I were intent on using you to pass the time until I could have Katherine?" he asks. Even though I can't stop my tears, I shake my head because Damon wouldn't waste his time telling me this if I were just a way to pass the time for him. "There's something you should know as well," he says. "For however obsessed _I_ was with Katherine, Stefan's got it worse because he actually kept a memento of her in the form of a picture he keeps on the desk in his room. It's even labeled _'Katherine, 1864'_ so there's no mistaking it for you. I don't have anything to remind me of her." I tense at that and Damon starts stroking his fingers through my hair in a soothing manner. "Easy, kitten," he says softly. "Do you want to know why I decided that I should share all?" he asks. I nod. "When Sheila used her witchy mojo to force me to pay her a visit, she performed a Tarot reading for me." I freeze. "I was royally pissed that she was making me late to pick you up. At least, I was until she was about halfway through the reading. I got some pretty interesting information out of the deal. Part of it made me realize that you don't keep stuff like this from the people you care about. And I care a very great deal about you. I've never felt like this in regards to anyone else in my life. I don't quite know what the name of the emotion is, but it's pretty intense. And that's saying something because vampire emotions are already cranked up to the max from human emotions."

I sigh and allow myself to relax against him. "What was your reading about?" I mumble into his chest, knowing he'll be able to understand me thanks to his vampire hearing.

"Are you going to tell me about _your_ reading?" he asks. "Because it would hardly be fair for me to tell you about mine while you keep yours to yourself. Particularly so since your reading was the reason Sheila decided I just _had_ to come to her for a reading."

I sigh and pull away enough to look up into his eyes. "Isn't it supposed to be bad luck or something to go talking about your Tarot readings?" I ask.

"Not that I'm aware of," he replies. "But if you're so worried about bad luck, let's just reveal one card that came up in our readings and what it meant."

"Which card?" I ask suspiciously.

"The sixth card. The one tied into the first fate," he says. "I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours."

I grimace but decide it's fair. "I got the Empress in the aspect of motherhood," I say softly.

His eyes sparkle as his lips twitch. "I got the Emperor in the aspect of fatherhood," he says.

I wrinkle my nose. "Don't tell me the cards are saying we're going to have kids," I say.

"Not possible," he says. "Vampires can't procreate, though we love to try."

I roll my eyes. "You sure about that?" I ask.

"In the entire history of vampires, there has never been a vampire who had a child _after_ they turned," he replies. "Vampires have been walking the planet for over a thousand years. If it was ever going to happen, I'm sure it would have happened by now."

"Yeah, well, 'Never Say Never'," I quote. "There's a reason that quote's been around for as long as it has been."

"Are you saying you _want_ to have my kids?" he teases.

I shrug. "If it happens, it happens," I tell him. "It's not like I have much choice, seeing as I'm stuck with you."

"You're stuck with me?" he asks, grinning mischievously. "How so?"

"I have been trying like crazy to get you off my mind since I laid eyes on you in the boarding house that day I was returning Stefan's book," I admit. "And very few of the thoughts are of the variety my friends would approve of."

Rather than respond, he dips his head and captures my lips in a searing kiss. Too soon, he has to pull away so I can get some air in my oxygen-deprived lungs. "You mean the friends you've spent the past week avoiding like the plague?" he asks wickedly. I nod breathlessly. He chuckles and scoops me up in his arms as he stands up. "I can get us back to the Camaro in just a couple minutes," he says in response to my raised eyebrow. "Hang on tight."

I obediently wrap my arms tightly around his neck. He readjusts me so that I'm balanced in his arms before taking off so quickly through the trees that all I see around us is a blur of color. I'm not worried, though. I know his superior vision allows him to pick up the tiniest details of what's around us even at this speed. I tuck my face into the crook where his left shoulder meets his neck and relax in the safety of his arms. He responds by tightening his grip on me ever-so-slightly.

As he promised, only a couple minutes pass before he's tucking me into the passenger seat of the Camaro. He captures my lips in another kiss before trotting around the front of the Camaro while I buckle up. He hops over the door and buckles up before starting his car. He pulls around in the yard so he can drive back down the nearly indiscernible path back to the main road.

Acting on impulse, I reach over with my left hand to pry his right hand from the wheel so I can lace our fingers together. I just know that whatever challenges we will face, we'll face them together. I'm not going to let anything get between us and after this afternoon's confession, I know Damon won't either. Sure, he hasn't confessed undying love or anything, but I have a feeling that the emotion he was talking about, the one he's never felt before, is the very same kind of love for me as mine is for him. Heartfelt declarations of love everlasting can wait for another day.

But in spite of Damon's firm declarations to the opposite, I do have to wonder if the Empress and the Emperor Tarots turning up in our readings might actually mean we _will_ become parents somehow. But that's a worry for another day. I'll just take things one day at a time and make sure each day I spend at Damon's side is without regret.


End file.
